'. 


&£  EeltM&t*. 


a? 


4 


MOBY-DICK; 


OR, 


THE    WHALE. 


HERMAN  MELVILLE, 


AUTHOR   OF 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER   c  BROTHERS,   PUBLISHERS. 

LONDON:   RICHARD  BENTLEY. 

1851. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1S51,  by 

HERMAN  MELVILLE, 

in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  Southorn  District  of  New  York. 


IN    TOKEN 


OF    MY   ADMIRATION    FOR   HIS   GENI 


U^ 


€jris  %nk  is  Snstrihi 


TO 


NATHANIEL  HAWTHORNE. 


CONTENTS. 


Chap. 

Page 

Chap. 

Page 

I. 

— Loomings      .     . 

1 

XL. 

— Forecastle.  —  Mid- 

II.- 

—The  Carpet  Bag. 

7 

night    .... 

189 

III. 

— The  Spouter-Inn 

11 

XLI. 

—Moby  Dick  .     .     . 

196 

IV. 

— The  Counterpane 

28 

XLII. 

— The  Whiteness    of 

T. 

— Breakfast .     .     . 

32 

the  Whale     .     . 

207 

VI. 

—The  Street     .     . 

35 

XLIII. 

-Hark!      .     .     .     . 

217 

VII. 

—The  Chapel  .     . 

37 

XLIV. 

—The  Chart    .     .     . 

218 

VIII.- 

—The  Pulpit     .     . 

41 

XLV. 

—The  Affidavit    .     . 

224 

IX. 

— The  Sermon  .     . 

44 

XL  VI. 

— Surmises  .... 

231 

X. 

— A  Bosom  Friend 

54 

XLVII. 

—The  Mat-Maker    . 

237 

XI. 

— Nightgown    . 

58 

XLVIII 

— The  First  Lowering 

240 

XII.- 

— Biographical . 

61 

XLIX. 

— The  Hyena  .     .     . 

252 

XIII.- 

— Wheelbarrow     . 

63 

L.- 

— Ahab's    Boat    and 

XIV. 

— Nantucket     .     . 

69 

Crew — Fedallah. 

255 

XV. 

— Chowder  .     .     . 

71 

LI.- 

—The  Spirit-Spout    . 

258 

XVI. 

—The  Ship  .     .     . 

75 

LII.- 

— The  Pequod  meets 

XVII.- 

—The  Ramadan    . 

.      91 

the  Albatross.     . 

262 

XVIII- 

—His  Mark .     .     . 

97 

LIII.- 

—The  Gam.     .     .     . 

264 

XIX.- 

—The  Prophet .     . 

102 

LIV. 

—The    Town     Ho's 

XX. 

—All  Astir  .     .     .- 

106 

Story  .... 

269 

XXI. 

— Going  Aboard    . 

108 

LV. 

— Monstrous  Pictures 

XXII.- 

—Merry  Christmas 

112 

of  Whales.     .     . 

292 

XXIII.- 

—The  Lee  Shore  . 

117 

LVI. 

— Less  Erroneous  Pic- 

XXIV. 

— The  Advocate    . 

118 

tures  of  Whales . 

298 

XXV. 

— Postscript.     .     . 

124 

LVII.- 

—Of  Whales  in  Paint, 

XXVI.- 

— Knights  and  Squires 

125 

in  Teeth,  &c. 

302 

XXVII. 

— Knights  and  Squires 

128 

LVIII.- 

—Brit 

305 

XXVIII.- 

-Ahab   .... 

133 

LIX.- 

308 

XXIX.- 

—Enter  Ahab  ;  to  him 

LX.- 

—The  Line.     .     .     . 

311 

Stubb     .     .     . 

137 

LXI.- 

-Stubb  kills  a  Whale. 

315 

XXX.- 

—The  Pipe  .     .     . 

141 

LXII. 

—The  Dart.     . 

321 

XXXI.- 

—Queen  Mab  .     .     . 

142 

LXIII.- 

—The  Crotch  .     .     . 

322 

XXXII. 

— Cetology  .     .     . 

144 

LXIV.- 

— Stubb's  Supper  .     . 

324 

XXXIII. 

— The  Specksynder 

159 

LXV.- 

-The  Whale    as    a 

XXXIV.- 

—The  Cabin  Table 

162 

Dish  .... 

333 

XXXV. 

—The  Mast-Head. 

169 

LXVI. 

—The    Shark    Mas- 

XXXVI. 

— The   Quarter-Deck 

sacre  .... 

336 

Ahab  and  all. 

176 

LXVII.- 

— Cutting  In     .     .     . 

33S 

XXXVII.- 

185 

LXVIII.- 

—The  Blanket      .     . 

340 

XXXVIII.- 

—Dusk    .... 

186 

LXIX.- 

-The  Funeral.     .     . 

343 

XXXIX.- 

—First  Night- Watch 

188 

LXX.- 

—The  Sphynx.     .     . 

345 

VI 

CONTENTS. 

Chap. 

Page 

Chap. 

Page 

LXXI. 

— The  Pequod  meets 

CII. 

— A  Bovver  in  the  Ar- 

the    Jeroboam. 

sacides.     .     .     . 

498 

Her  Story   .     . 

348 

cm. 

— Measurement  of  the 

LXXII. 

— The  Monkey-rope 

355 

Whale's  Skeleton 

503 

LXXIII. 

— Stubb  &  Flask  kill 

CIV. 

—The  Fossil  Whale. 

506 

a  Right  Whale. 

360 

cv. 

—Does  the  Whale  Di- 

LXXIV. 

— The  SpermWhale's 

minish  1    .     .     . 

510 

Head      .     .     . 

366 

CVI. 

— Ahab's  Leg  .     .     . 

515 

LXXV. 

—The  Right  Whale's 

CVII. 

— The  Carpenter  .     . 

518 

Head.     .     .     . 

371 

CVIII. 

—The  Deck.     Ahab 

LXXVI.- 

— The  BatteringRam 

374 

and  the  Carpenter 

521 

LXXVII. 

—The  Great  Heidel- 

CIX. 

—The  Cabin.     Ahab 

burgh  Tun  .     . 

377 

and  Starbuck     . 

526 

LXXVIII. 

— Cistern  and  Buck- 

ex. 

— Queequeg     in     his 

ets     ...     . 

379 

Coffin  .... 

529 

LXXIX.- 

—The  Praire .     .     . 

384 

CXI. 

—The  Pacific  .     .     . 

535 

LXXX.- 

—The  Nut     .     .     . 

387 

CXII. 

—The  Blacksmith     . 

537 

LXXXI.- 

—The  Pequod  meets 

CXIII. 

—The  Forge    .     .     . 

540 

the  Virgin   .     . 

390 

CXIV. 

—The  Gilder  .     .     . 

544 

LXXXII.- 

—The    Honor    and 

cxv.- 

—The  Pequod  meets 

Glory  of  Whal- 

the Bachelor 

546 

ing     ...     . 

402 

CXVI.- 

—The  Dying  Whale. 

549 

LXXXIII.- 

—Jonah  Historically 

CXVII.- 

-The  Whale- Watch. 

550 

Regarded    .     . 

406 

CXVIII.- 

—The  Quadrant   .     . 

552 

LXXXIV. 

— Pitchpoling.     .     . 

408 

CXIX.- 

-The  Candles.     .     . 

555 

LXXXV.- 

—The  Fountain  .     . 

411 

cxx.- 

-The  Deck     .     .     . 

562 

LXXXVI.- 

-The  Tail    .     .     . 

417 

CXXI.- 

—Midnight,    on    the 

LXXXVII. 

— The  Grand  Arma- 

Forecastle    .     . 

563 

da 

422 

CXXII.- 

—Midnight,  Aloft.     . 

565 

LXXXVIII.- 

—Schools  &  School- 

CXXIII. 

—The  Musket.     .     . 

565 

masters  .     .     . 

436 

CXXIV.- 

—The  Needle  .     .     . 

569 

LXXXIX.- 

—Fast      Fish     and 

exxv. 

— The  Log  and  Line. 

573 

Loose  Fish .     . 

440 

CXXVI.- 

—The  Life-Buoy  .     . 

577 

xc. 

— Heads  or  Tails     . 

444 

CXXVII.- 

—Ahab  and  the  Car- 

XCI.- 

— The  Pequod  meet3 

penter  .... 

581 

the  Rose  Bud  . 

447 

CXXVIII. 

— The  Pequod  meets 

XCII. 

— Ambergris  .     .     . 

455 

the  Rachel    .     . 

583 

XCIII.- 

—The  Castaway.     . 

458 

CXXIX.- 

-The  Cabin.     Ahab 

XCIV.- 

— A  Squeeze  of  the 

and  Pip     .     .     . 

587 

Hand.     .     .     . 

463 

exxx.- 

—The  Hat  .     .     .     . 

589 

xcv.- 

—The  Cassock  .     . 

467 

CXXXI. 

—The  Pequod  meets 

XCVI.- 

—The  Try- Works  . 

468 

the  Delight   .     . 

594 

XCVII.- 

—The  Lamp  .     .     . 

474 

CXXXII.- 

—The  Symphony.     . 

590 

XCVIII. 

— Stowing  Down  & 

CXXXIII. 

—The  Chase.     First 

Clearing  Up     . 

474 

Day     .... 

601 

XCIX.- 

—The  Doubloon.     . 

478 

CXXXIV.- 

— The  Chase.  Second 

c. 

— The  Pequod  meets 

Day     .... 

611 

the  Samuel  En- 

exxxv. 

—The  Chase.    Third 

derby  of  London. 

485 

Day     .... 

621 

CI. 

— The  Decanter  .     . 

493 

Epilogue  . 

IOBY-DICK; 


OR, 


THE    WHALE 


ETYMOLOGY. 

(supplies  by  a  late  consumptive  usher  to  a 
grammar  school.) 


The  pale  Usher — threadbare  in  coat,  heart,  body,  and  brain  ;  I  see  him 
now.  He  was  ever  dusting  his  old  lexicons  and  grammars,  with  a 
queer  handkerchief,  mockingly  embellished  with  all  the  gay  flags  of  all 
the  known  nations  of  the  world.  He  loved  to  dust  his  old  grammars  ; 
it   somehow   mildly   reminded   him   of   his   mortality. 


ETYMOLOGY 


"  While  you  take  in  hand  to  school  others,  and  to  teach 
them  by  what  name  a  whale-fish  is  to  be  called  in  our  tongue, 
leaving  out,  through  ignorance,  the  letter  H,  which  almost 
alone  maketh  up  the  signification  of  the  word,  you  deliver  that 
which  is  not  true."  Hackluyt. 

"WHALE.  *  *  *  Sw.  and  Dan.  hval.  This  animal 
is  named  from  roundness  or  rolling ;  for  in  Dan.  hvalt  is  arched 
or  vaulted."  Webster's  Dictionary. 

"  WHALE.  *  *  *  It  is  more  immediately  from  the 
Dut.  and  Ger.  Wallen  ;  a.s.  Walw-ian,  to  roll,  to  wallow." 

Richardson's  Dictionary. 


V, 

Hebrew. 

xr)<rog, 

Greek. 

CETUS, 

Latin. 

WHCEL, 

Anglo-Saxon. 

HVALT, 

Danish. 

WAL, 

Dutch. 

HWAL, 

Swedish. 

WHALE, 

Icelandic. 

WHALE, 

English. 

BALEINE, 

French. 

BALLENA, 

Spanish. 

PEKEE-NUEE-NUEE, 

Fegee. 

PEHEE-NUEE-NUEE, 

Erromangoan, 

EXTRACTS. 

(£uppltrtJ  J>a  a  £u&*£u6=1Lttitatfatt.) 


It  will  be  seen  that  this  mere  painstaking  burrower  and  grub-worm 
of  a  poor  devil  of  a  Sub-Sub  appears  to  have  gone  through  the  long 
Vaticans  and  street-stalls  of  the  earth,  picking  up  whatever  random 
allusions  to  whales  he  could  anyways  find  in  any  book  whatsoever, 
sacred  or  profane.  Therefore  you  must  not,  in  every  case  at  least,  take  the 
higgledy-piggledy  whale  statements,  however  authentic,  in  these  extracts, 
for  veritable  gospel  cetology.  Far  from  it.  As  touching  the  ancient 
authors  generally,  as  well  as  the  poets  here  appearing,  these  extracts 
are  solely  valuable  or  entertaining,  as  affording  a  glancing  bird's  eye 
view  of  what  has  been  promiscuously  said,  thought,  fancied,  and  sung 
of  Leviathan,  by  many  nations  and  generations,  including  our  own. 

So  fare  thee  well,  poor  devil  of  a  Sub-Sub,  whose  commentator  I 
am.  Thou  belongest  to  that  hopeless,  sallow  tribe  which  no  wine  of 
this  world  will  ever  warm  ;  and  for  whom  even  Pale  Sherry  would  be 
too  rosy -strong  ;  but  with  whom  one  sometimes  loves  to  sit,  and  feel 
poor-devilish,  too  ;  and  grow  convivial  upon  tears ;  and  say  to  them 
bluntly,  with  full  eyes  and  empty  glasses,  and  in  not  altogether 
unpleasant  sadness — Give  it  up,  Sub-Subs !  For  by  how  much  the  more 
pains  ye  take  to  please  the  world,  by  so  much  the  more  shall  ye  for 
ever  go  thankless  !  Would  that  I  could  clear  out  Hampton  Court  and 
the  Tuileries  for  ye !  But  gulp  down  your  tears  and  hie  aloft  to  the 
royal-mast  with  your  hearts ;  for  your  friends  who  have  gone  before 
are  clearing  out  the  seven-storied  heavens,  and  making  refugees  of 
long-pampered  Gabriel,  Michael,  and  Raphael,  against  your  coming. 
Here  ye  strike  but  splintered  hearts  together — there,  ye  shall  strike 
unsplinterable  glasses ! 


A* 


EXTEAOTS. 


"  And  God  created  great  whales." 

Genesis. 


"  Leviathan  maketh  a  path  to  shin-5  after  him ; 
One  would  think  the  deep  t<  be  hoary." 

Job. 

"Now  the  Lord  had  prepared  a  great  fish  to  swallow  up 
Jonah."  .  Jonah. 

"  There  go  the  ships ;  there  is  that  Leviathan  whom  thou 
hast  made  to  play  therein."  Psalms. 

"  In  that  day,  the  Lord  with  his  sore,  and  great,  and  strong 
sword,  shall  punish  Leviathan  the  piercing  serpent,  even 
Leviathan  that  crooked  serpent ;  and  he  shall  slay  the  dragon 
that  is  in  the  sea."  Isaiah. 

"  And  what  thing  soever  besides  cometh  within  the  chaos  of 
this  monster's  mouth,  be  it  beast,  boat,  or  stone,  down  it  goes 
all  incontinently  that  foul  great  swallow  of  his,  and  perisheth  in 
the  bottomless  gulf  of  his  paunch." 

Holland's  Plutarch's  Morals. 

"  The  Indian  Sea  breedeth  the  most  and  the  biggest  fishes 
that  are :  among  which  the  Whales  and  Whirlpooles  called 
Balsene,  take  up  as  much  in  length  as  four  acres  or  arpens  of 
land."  Holland's  Pliny. 


EXTRACTS. 


"  Scarcely  had  we  proceeded  two  days  on  the  sea,  when 
about  sunrise  a  great  many  Whales  and  other  monsters  of  the 
sea,  appeared.  Among  the  former,  one  was  of  a  most  monstrous 
size.  *  *  This  came  towards  us,  open-mouthed,  raising  the 
waves  on  all  sides,  and  beating  the  sea  before  him  into  a 
foam."  Tooke's  Lucian. 

"  The  True  History:" 

"  He  visited  this  country  also  with  a  view  of  catching  horse- 
whales,  which  had  bones  of  very  great  value  for  their  teeth,  of 
which  he  brought  some  to  the  king.  *  *  *  The  best 
whales  were  catched  in  his  own  country,  of  which  some  were 
forty-eight,  some  fifty  yards  long.  He  said  that  he  was  one  of 
six  who  had  killed  sixty  in  two  days." 

Other  or  0 ether's  verbal  narrative  taken  down 
from  his  mouth  by  King  Alfred.  A.  D.  890. 

"  And  whereas  all  the  other  things,  whether  beast  or  vessel, 
that  enter  into  the  dreadful  gulf  of  this  monster's  (whale's) 
mouth,  are  immediately  lost  and  swallowed  up,  the  sea-gudgeon 
retires  into  it  in  great  security,  and  there  sleeps." 

Montaigne. — Apology  for  Raimond  Sebond. 

"Let  us  fly,  let  us  fly!  Old  Nick  take  me  if  it  is  not 
Leviathan  described  by  the  noble  prophet  Moses  in  the  life  of 
patient  Job."  Rabelais. 

"  This  whale's  liver  was  two  cart-loads." 

Stowe's  Annals. 


"  The  great  Leviathan  that  maketh  the  seas  to  seethe  like 
boiling  pan."  Lord  Bacon's  Version  of  the  Psalms. 

"  Touching  that  monstrous  bulk  of  the  whale  or  ork  we  have 
received  nothing  certain.  They  grow  exceeding  fat,  insomuch 
that  an  incredible  quantity  of  oil  will  be  extracted  out  of  one 
whale."  Ibid  "  History  of  Life  and  Death." 


EXTRACTS 


"  The  sovereignest  thing  on  earth  is  parmacetti  for  an  inward 
bruise."  King  Henry. 

"  Very  like  a  whale."  Hamlet. 

"  Which  to  secure,  no  skill  of  leach's  art 
Mote  him  availle,  but  to  returne  againe 
To  his  wound's  worker,  that  with  lowly  dart, 
Dinting  his  breast,  had  bred  his  restless  paine, 
Like  as  the  wounded  whale  to  shore  flies  thro'  the 
maine."  The  Fairie  Queen. 

"  Immense  as  whales,  the  motion  of  whose  vast  bodies  can 
in  a  peaceful  calm  trouble  the  ocean  till  it  boil." 

Sir  William  Davenant.     Preface  to  Gondibert. 


"What  spermacetti  is,  men  might  justly  doubt,  since  the 
learned  Hosmannus  in  his  work  of  thirty  years,  saith  plainly, 
Nescio  quid  sit." 

Sir  T.  Browne.     Of  Sperma  Ceti  and  the 
Sperma  Ceti  Whale.  Vide  his  V.  E. 

"  Like  Spencer's  Talus  with  his  modern  flail 

He  threatens  ruin  with  his  ponderous  tail. 
***** 

Their  fixed  jav'lins  in  his  side  he  wears, 
And  on  his  back  a  grove  of  pikes  appears." 

Waller's  Battle  of  the  Summer  Islands. 

"  By  art  is  created  that  great  Leviathan,  called  a  Common- 
wealth or  State — (in  Latin,  Civitas)  which  is  but  an  artificial 
man."  Opening  sentence  of  Hoboes'1  s  Leviathan. 


"  Silly  Mansoul  swallowed  it  without  chewing,  as  if  it  had 
been  a  sprat  in  the  mouth  of  a  whale." 

Pilgrim's  Progress. 


EXTRACTS 


"  That  sea  beast 
Leviathan,  which  God  of  all  his  works 
Created  hugest  that  swim  the  ocean  stream." 

Paradise  Lost. 


"  There  Leviathan, 


Hugest  of  living  creatures,  in  the  deep 
Stretched  like  a  promontory  sleeps  or  swims, 
And  seems  a  moving  land ;  and  at  his  gills 
Draws  in,  and  at  his  breath  spouts  out  a  sea." 

Ibid. 


"The  mighty  whales  which  swim  in  a  sea  of  water,  and 
have  a  sea  of  oil  swimming  in  them." 

Fuller's  Profane  and  Holy  State. 

"  So  close  behind  some  promontory  lie 

The  huge  Leviathans  to  attend  their  prey, 
And  give  no  chace,  but  swallow  in  the  fry, 

Which  through  their  gaping  jaws  mistake  the  way." 
Dryderis  Annus  Mirabilis. 

"  While  the  whale  is  floating  at  the  stern  of  the  ship,  they 
cut  off  his  head,  and  tow  it  with  a  boat  as  near  the  shore  as  it 
will  come ;  but  it  will  be  aground  in  twelve  or  thirteen  feet 
water." 

Thomas  Edge's  Ten  Voyages  to  Spitsbergen,  in  Purchass. 

"  In  their  way  they  saw  many  whales  sporting  in  the  ocean, 
and  in  wantonness  fuzzing  up  the  water  through  their  pipes  and 
vents,  which  nature  has  placed  on  their  shoulders." 

Sir  T.  Herbert'' s  Voyages  into  Asia  and  Africa. 

Harris  Coll. 


"  Here  they  saw  such  huge  troops  of  whales,  that  they  were 
forced  to  proceed  with  a  great  deal  of  caution  for  fear  they 
should  run  their  ship  upon  them." 

Schouten's  Sixth  Circumnavigation. 


EXTRACTS. 


"  We  set  sail  from  the  Elbe,  wind  N.  E.  in  tlie  ship  called 
The  Jonas-in-the-Whale.     *     *     * 

Some  say  the  whale  can't  open  his  mouth,  but  that  is  a 
fable.      *     *     * 

They  frequently  climb  up  the  masts  to  see  whether  they  can 
see  a  whale,  for  the  first  discoverer  has  a  ducat  for  his  pains-*** 

I  was  told  of  a  whale  taken  near  Shetland,  that  had  above  a 
barrel  of -herrings  in  his  belly.     *     *     * 

One  of  our  harpooneers  told  me  that  he  caught  once  a  whale 
in  Spitzbergen  that  was  white  all  over." 

A  Voyage  to  Greenland,  A.D.  1671. 

Harris  Coll. 

"  Several  whales  have  come  in  upon  this  coast  (Fife). 
Anno  1652,  one  eighty  feet  in  length  of  the  whale-bone  kind 
came  in,  which,  (as  I  was  informed)  besides  a  vast  quantity  of 
oil,  did  afford  500  weight  of  baleen.  The  jaws  of  it  stand  for  a 
gate  in  the  garden  of  Pitferren." 

SibbalcVs  Fife  and  Kinross. 

"  Myself  have  agreed  to  try  whether  I  can  master  and  kill 
this  Sperma-ceti  whale,  for  I  could  never  hear  of  any  of  that 
sort  that  was  killed  by  any  man,  such  is  his  fierceness  and 
swiftness." 

Richard  Strafford 's  Letter  from  the  Bermudas. 
Phil.  Trans.  A.  D.  1668. 

"  Whales  in  the  sea 
God's  voice  obey." 

N.  E.  Primer. 

"  We  saw  also  abundance  of  large  whales,  there  being  more 
in  those  southern  seas,  as  I  may  say,  by  a  hundred  to  one ; 
than  we  have  to  the  northward  of  us." 

Captain  Cowley's  Voyage  round  the  Globe.  A.  B.  1729. 

•a  *  -u  *  *  u  an(j  t;he  breath  of  the  whale  is  frequently 
attended  with  such  an  insupportable  smell,  as  to  bring  on  a 
disorder  of  the  brain." 

UUoa's  South  America. 


EXTRACTS. 


"  To  fifty  chosen  sylphs  of  special  note, 
We  trust  the  important  charge,  the  petticoat. 
Oft  have  we  known  that  seven-fold  fence  to  fail,- 
Tho'  stuffed  with  hoops  and  armed  with  ribs  of  whale." 

Rape  of  the  Lock. 

"  If  we  compare  land  animals  in  respect  to  magnitude,  with 
those  that  take  up  their  abode  in  the  deep,  we  shall  find  they 
will  appear  contemptible  in  the  comparison.  The  whale  is 
doubtless  the  largest  animal  in  creation." 

Goldsmith,  Nat.  His. 

"  If  you  should  write  a  fable  for  little  fishes,  you  would  make 
them  speak  like  great  whales." 

Goldsmith  to  Johnson. 

"In  the  afternoon  we  saw  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  rock, 
but  it  was  found  to  be  a  dead  whale,  which  some  Asiatics  had 
killed,  and  were  then  towing  ashore.  They  seemed  to  endeavor 
to  conceal  themselves  behind  the  whale,  in  order  to  avoid  being 
seen  by  us."  Cook's  Voyages. 

"  The  larger  whales,  they  seldom  venture  to  attack.  They 
stand  in  so  great  dread  of  some  of  them,  that  when  out  at  sea 
they  are  afraid  to  mention  even  their  names,  and  carry  dung, 
lime-stone,  juniper-wood,  and  some  other  articles  of  the  same 
nature  in  their  boats,  in  order  to  terrify  and  prevent  their  too 
near  approach." 

TJno  Von  TroiVs  Letters  on  Banks's  and 
Solander's  Voyage  to  Iceland  in  1772. 

"The  Spermacetti  Whale  found  by  the  Nantuckois,  is  an 
active,  fierce  animal,  and  requires  vast  address  and  boldness  in 
the  fishermen." 

Thomas  Jefferson's  Whale  Memorial  to  the 
French  minister  in  1778. 

"  And  pray,  sir,  what  in  the  world  is  equal  to  it  V 

Edmund  Burke's  reference  in  Parliament 

to  the  Nantucket  Whale- Fishery. 


EXTRACTS. 


"  Spain a  great  whale  stranded  on  the  shores  of  Europe." 

Edmund  Burke,     {somewhere.) 

"  A  tenth  branch  of  the  king's  ordinary  revenue,  said  to  be 
grounded  on  the  consideration  of  his  guarding  and  protecting 
the  seas  from  pirates  and  robbers,  is  the  right  to  royal  fish, 
which  are  whale  and  sturgeon.  And  these,  when  either  thrown 
ashore  or  caught  near  the  coast,  are  the  property  of  the  king." 

Blackstone. 


"  Soon  to  the  sport  of  death  the  crews  repair  : 
Rodmond  unerring  o'er  his  head  suspends 
The  barbed  steel,  and  eveiy  turn  attends." 

Falconer's  Shipwreck. 

"  Bright  shone  the  roofs,  the  domes,  the  spires, 
And  rockets  blew  self  driven, 
To  hang  their  momentary  fire 
Around  the  vault  of  heaven. 

"  So  fire  with  water  to  compare, 
The  ocean  serves  on  high, 
Up-spouted  by  a  whale  in  air, 
To  express  unwieldy  joy." 

Cowper,  on  the  Queen's  Visit  to  London. 

"  Ten  or  fifteen  gallons  of  blood  are  thrown  out  of  the  heart 
at  a  stroke,  with  immense  velocity." 

John  Hunter's  account  of  the  dissection 

of  a  whale.     (A  small  sized  one.) 

"  The  aorta  of  a  whale  is  larger  in  the  bore  than  the  main 
pipe  of  the  water-works  at  London  Bridge,  and  the  water  roar- 
ing in  its  passage  through  that  pipe  is  inferior  in  impetus  and 
velocity  to  the  blood  gushing  from  the  whale's  heart." 

Paley's  Theology. 

"  The  whale  is  a  mammiferous  animal  without  hind  feet." 

Baron  Cuvier. 


EXTRACTS. 


"  In  40  degrees  south,  we  saw  Spermacetti  Whales,  but  did 
not  take  any  till  the  first  of  May,  the  sea  being  then  covered 
with  them." 

Colnetfs  Voyage  for  the  Purpose  of 

Extending  the  Spermacetti  Whale  Finery. 

.  "  In  the  free  element  beneath  me  swam, 

Floundered  and  dived,  in  play,  in  chace,  in  battle, 

Fishes  of  every  color,  form,  and  kind ; 

Which  language  cannot  paint,  and  mariner 

Had  never  seen ;  from  dread  Leviathan 

To  insect  millions  peopling  every  wave : 

Gather'd  in  shoals  immense,  like  floating  islands, 

Led  by  mysterious  instincts  through  that  waste 

And  trackless  region,  though  on  every  side 

Assaulted  by  voracious  enemies, 

Whales,  sharks,  and  monsters,  arm'd  in  front  or  jaw. 

With  swords,  saws,  spiral  horns,  or  hooked  fangs." 

Montgomery's  World  before  the  Flood. 

"  Io !     Paean !     Io !     sing, 
To  the  finny  people's  king. 
Not  a  mightier  whale  than  this 
In  the  vast  Atlantic  is ; 
Not  a  fatter  fish  than  he, 
Flounders  round  the  Polar  Sea." 

Charles  Lamb's  Triumph  of  the  Whale. 

"In  the  year  1690  some  persons  were  on  a  high  hill  observ- 
ing the  whales  spouting  and  sporting  with  each  other,  when 
one  observed ;  there — pointing  to  the  sea — is  a  green  pasture 
where  our  children's  grand-children  will  go  for  bread." 

Obed  Macy's  History  of  Nantucket. 

"  I  built  a  cottage  for  Susan  and  myself  and  made  a  gateway 
in  the  form  of  a  Gothic  Arch,  by  setting  up  a  whale's  jaw 
bones."  Hawthorne's  Tioice  Told  Tales. 

"  She  came  to  bespeak  a  monument  for  her  first  love,  who 
had  been  killed  by  a  whale  in  the  Pacific  ocean,  no  less  than 
forty  years  ago."  Ibid. 


EXTRACTS, 


"  No,  Sir,  'tis  a  Right  Whale,"  answered  Tom ;  "  I  saw  his 
spout ;  he  threw  up  a  pair  of  as  pretty  rainbows  as  a  Christian 
would  wish  to  look  at.     He's  a  raal  oil-butt,  that  fellow  !  " 

Cooper's  Pilot. 

"The  papers  were   brought  in,  and  we  saw  in  the  Berlin 
Gazette  that  whales  had  been  introduced  on  the  stage  there." 
Eckermanrfs  Conversations  with  Goethe. 

"  My  God !  Mr.  Chace,  what  is  the  matter  ?"  I  answered,  "  we 
have  been  stove  by  a  whale." 

"Narrative  of  the  Shipwreck  of  the  Whale  Ship 
Essex  of  Nantucket,  which  was  attacked  and 
finally  destroyed  by  a  large  Sperm  Whale 
in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  By  Owen  Chace  of 
Nantucket,  first  mate  of  said  vessel.  New 
York.  1821. 

"  A  mariner  sat  in  the  shrouds  one  night, 
The  wind  was  piping  free ; 
Now  bright,  now  dimmed,  was  the  moonlight  pale, 
And  the  phospher  gleamed  in  the  wake  of  the  whale, 
As  it  floundered  in  the  sea." 

Elizabeth  Oakes  Smith. 

"The  quantity  of  line  withdrawn  from  the  different  boats 
engaged  in  the  capture  of  this  one  whale,  amounted  altogether 
to  10,440  yards  or  nearly  six  English  miles."     *     *     * 

"  Sometimes  the  whale  shakes  its  tremendous  tail  in  the  air, 
which,  cracking  like  a  whip,  resounds  to  the  distance  of  three 
or  four  miles."  Scoresby. 

"  Mad  with  the  agonies  he  endures  from  these  fresh  attacks, 
the  infuriated  Sperm  Whale  rolls  over  and  over ;  he  rears  his 
enormous  head,  and  with  wide  expanded  jaws  snaps  at  everv- 
thing  around  him ;  he  rushes  at  the  boats  with  his  head ;  they 
are  propelled  before  him  with  vast  swiftness,  and  sometimes 
utterly  destroyed. 

*  *  *  It  is  a  matter  of  great  astonishment  that  the  con- 
sideration of  the  habits  of  so  interesting,  and,  in  a  commercial 


EXTRACTS. 


point  of  view,  of  so  important  an  animal  (as  the  Sperm  Whale) 
should  have  been  so  entirely  neglected,  or  should  have  excited 
so  little  curiosity  among  the  numerous,  and  many  of  them  com- 
petent observers,  that  of  late  years  must  have  possessed  the 
most  abundant  and  the  most  convenient  opportunities  of 
witnessing  their  habitudes." 

Thomas  Beetle's  History  of  the  Sperm  Whale,  1839. 

"  The  Cachalot "  (Sperm  Whale)  "  is  not  only  better  armed 
than  the  True  Whale"  (Greenland  or  Right  Whale)  "  in  pos- 
sessing a  formidable  weapon  at  either  extremity  of  its  body,  but 
also  more  frequently  displays  a  disposition  to  employ  these 
weapons  offensively,  and  in  a  manner  at  once  so  artful,  bold, 
and  mischievous,  as  to  lead  to  its  being  regarded  as  the  most 
dangerous  to  attack  of  all  the  known  species  of  the  whale  tribe." 
Frederick  Debell  Bennetts  Whaling 
Voyage  Round  the  Globe.     1840. 

October  13.  "There  she  blows,"  was  sung  out  from  the 
mast-head. 

"  Where  away  ?"  demanded  the  captain. 

"  Three  points  off  the  lee  bow,  sir." 

"  Raise  up  your  wheel.     Steady !" 

"  Steady,  sir." 

"  Mast-head  ahoy !     Do  you  see  that  whale  now  ?" 

"  Ay  ay,  sir !  A  shoal  of  Sperm  Whales !  There  she  blows ! 
There  she  breaches !" 

"  Sing  out !  sing  out  every  time  !" 

"  Ay  ay,  sir !  There  she  blows !  there — there — thar  she 
blows — bowes — bo-o-o-s !" 

"How  far  off?" 

"  Two  miles  and  a  half." 

"  Thunder  and  lightning !  so  near !     Call  all  hands !" 
J.  Ross  Browne's  Etchings 
of  a  Whaling  Cruize.     1846. 

"  The  Whale-ship  Globe,  on  board  of  which  vessel  occurred 
the  horrid  transactions  we  are  about  to  relate,  belonged  to  the 
island  of  Nantucket." 

"Narrative  of  the  Globe  Mutiny,  by 

Lay  and  Hussey  survivors.  A.  D.  1828. 


EXTRACTS. 


"  Being  once  pursued  by  a  whale  which  he  had  wounded,  he 
parried  the  assault  for  some  time  with  a  lance ;  but  the  furious 
monster  at  length  rushed  on  the  boat ;  himself  and  comrades 
only  being  preserved  by  leaping  into  the  water  when  they  saw 
the  onset  was  inevitable." 

Missionary  Journal  of  Tyerman  and  Bennett. 

"  Nantucket  itself,"  said  Mr.  "Webster,  "  is  a  very  striking  and 
peculiar  portion  of  the  National  interest.  There  is  a  population 
of  eight  or  nine  thousand  persons,  living  here  in  the  sea,  adding 
largely  every  year  to  the  National  wealth  by  the  boldest  and 
most  persevering  industry." 

Report  of  Daniel  Webster's  Speech  in  the 
U.  S.  Senate,  on  the  application  for  the 
Erection  of  a  Breakwater  at  Nantucket. 
1828. 

"  The  whale  fell  directly  over  him,  and  probably  killed  him 
in  a  moment." 

"  The  Whale  and  his  Captors,  or  The  Whaleman's 
Adventures  and  the  Whale's  Biography,  gathered 
on  the  Homeward  Cruise  of  the  Commodore 
Preble."     By  Rev.  Henry  T.  Cheever. 

"  If  you  make  the  least  damn  bit  of  noise,"  replied  Samuel, 
"  I  will  send  you  to  hell." 

Life  of  Samuel  Comstock  (the  mutineer),  by  his 
brother,  William  Comstock.  Another  Ver- 
sion of  tke  whale-ship  Globe  narrative. 

"  The  voyages  of  the  Dutch  and  English  to  the  Northern 
Ocean,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  discover  a  passage  through  it  to 
India,  though  they  failed  of  their  main  object,  laid  open  the 
haunts  of  the  whale." 

McCulloctts  Commercial  Dictionary. 

"  These  things  are  reciprocal ;  the  ball  rebounds,  only  to 
bound  forward  again ;  for  now  in  laying  open  the  haunts  of 
the  whale,  the  whalemen  seem  to  have  indirectly  hit  upon  new 
clews  to  that  same  mystic  North-West  Passage." 

From  "  Something  "  unpublished. 


EXTRACTS 


"  It  is  impossible  to  meet  a  whale-ship  on  the  ocean  without 
being  struck  by  her  near  appearance.  The  vessel  under  short 
sail,  with  look-outs  at  the  mast-heads,  eagerly  scanning  the 
wide  expanse  around  them,  has  a  totally  different  air  from 
those  engaged  in  a  regular  voyage." 

Currents  and  Whaling.     JJ.  S.  Ex.  Ex. 

"  Pedestrians  in  the  vicinity  of  London  and  elsewhere  may 
recollect  having  seen  large  curved  bones  set  upright  in  the  earth, 
either  to  form  arches  over  gateways,  or  entrances  to  alcoves, 
and  they  may  perhaps  have  been  told  that  these  were  the  ribs 
of  whales."  Tales  of  a  Whale  Voyager 

to  the  Arctic  Ocean. 

"  It  was  not  till  the  boats  returned  from  the  pursuit  of  these 
whales,  that  the  whites  saw  their  ship  in  bloody  possession  of 
the  savages  enrolled  among  the  crew." 

Newspaper  Account  of  the  Taking  and 
Retaking  of  the  Whale-ship  Hobomack. 

"  It  is  generally  well  known  that  out  of  the  crews  of  Whaling 
vessels  (American)  few  ever  return  in  the  ships  on  board  of 
which  they  departed."  Cruise  in  a  Whale  Boat. 

"  Suddenly  a  mighty  mass  emerged  from  the  water,  and  shot 
up  perpendicularly  into  the  air.     It  was  the  whale." 

Miriam  Coffin  or  the  Whale  Fisherman. 

"  The  Whale  is  harpooned  to  be  sure ;  but  bethink  you,  how 
you  would  manage  a  powerful  unbroken  colt,  with  the  mere 
appliance  of  a  rope  tied  to  the  root  of  his  tail." 

A  Chapter  on  Whaling  in  Ribs  and  Trucks. 

"  On  one  occasion  I  saw  two  of  these  monsters  (whales)  pro- 
bably male  and  female,  slowly  swimming,  one  after  the  other, 
within  less  than  a  stone's  throw  of  the  shore  "  (Terra  Del  Fu- 
ego),  "  over  which  the  beech  tree  extended  its  branches." 

Danvin's  Voyage  of  a  Naturalist. 

" '  Stern  all !'  exclaimed  the  mate,  as  upon  turning  his  head, 
he  saw  the  distended  jaws  of  a  large  Sperm  Whale  close  to  the 


EXTRACT'S 


head  of  the  boat,  threatening  it  with  instant  destruction ; — 
'  Stern  all,  for  your  lives  !'  " 

Wharton  the  Whale  Kilter. 

"  So  be  cheery,  my  lads,  let  your  hearts  never  fail, 
While  the  bold  harpooneer  is  striking  the  whale !" 

Nantucket  Song, 

"  Oh,  the  rare  old  Whale,  mid  storm  and  gale 
In  his  ocean  home  will  be 
A  giant  in  might,  where  might  is  right, 
And  King  of  the  boundless  sea." 

Whale  Sony.^ 


CHAPTER  I. 

L00MINGS. 

Call  me  Ishmael.  Some  years  ago — never  mind  how  long 
precisely — having  little  or  no  money  in  my  purse,  and  nothing 
particular  to  interest  me  on  shore,  I  thought  I  would  sail  about 
a  little  and  see  the  watery  part  of  the  world.  It  is  a  way  I  have 
of  driving  off  the  spleen,  and  regulating  the  circulation.  When- 
ever I  find  myself  growing  grim  about  the  mouth ;  whenever  it 
is  a  damp,  drizzly  November  in  my  soul ;  whenever  I  find  myself 
involuntarily  pausing  before  coffin  warehouses,  and  bringing  up 
the  rear  of  every  funeral  I  meet ;  and  especially  whenever  my 
hypos  get  such  an  upper  hand  of  me,  that  it  requires  a  strong 
moral  principle  to  prevent  me  from  deliberately  stepping  into 
the  street,  and  methodically  knocking  people's  hats  off — then,  I 
account  it  high  time  to  get  to  sea  as  soon  as  I  can.  This  is  my 
substitute  for  pistol  and  ball.  With  a  philosophical  flourish 
Cato  throws  himself  upon  his  sword ;  I  quietly  take  to  the 
ship.  There  is  nothing  surprising^in  this.  If  they  but  knew  it, 
almost  all  men  in  their  degree,  some  time  or  other,  cherish  very 
nearly  the  same  feelings  towards  the  ocean  with  me. 

There  now  is  your  insular  city  of  the  Manhattoes,  belted 
round  by  wharves  as  Indian  isles  by  coral  reefs — commerce  sur- 
rounds it  with  her  surf.  Right  and  left,  the  streets  take  you 
waterward.  Its  extreme  down-town  is  the  battery,  where  that 
noble  mole  is  washed  by  waves,  and  cooled  by  breezes,  which 
a  few  hours  previous  were  out  of  sight  of  land.  Look  at  the 
crowds  of  water-gazers  there. 

Circumambulate  the  city  of  a  dreamy  Sabbath  afternoon. 
Go  from  Corlears  Hook  to  Coenties  Slip,  and  from  thence,  by 

1 


L  O  O  M  I  N  G  S  . 


Whitehall,  northward.  What  do  you  see  ? — Posted  like  silent 
sentinels  all  around  the  town,  stand  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  mortal  men  fixed  in  ocean  reveries.  Some  leaning  against  the 
spiles;  some  seated  upon  the  pier-heads ;  some  looking  over  the 
bulwarks  of  ships  from  China;  some  high  aloft  in  the  rigging, 
as  if  striving  to  get  a  still  better  seaward  peep.  But  these  are 
all  landsmen  ;  of  week  days  pent  up  in  lath  and  plaster — tied 
to  counters,  nailed  to  benches,  clinched  to  desks.  How  then 
is  this  ?     Are  the  green  fields  gone  ?     What  do  they  here  ? 

But  look !  here  come  more  crowds,  pacing  straight  for  the 
water,  and  seemingly  bound  for  a  dive.  Strange  !  Nothing 
will  content  them  but  the  extremest  limit  of  the  land ;  loitering 
under  the  shady  lee  of  yonder  warehouses  will  not  suffice.  No. 
They  must  get  just  as  nigh  the  water  as  they  possibly  can 
without  falling  in.  And  there  they  stand — miles  of  them — 
leagues.  Inlanders  all,  they  come  from  lanes  and  alleys,  streets 
and  avenues — north,  east,  south,  and  west.  Yet  here  they  all 
unite.  Tell  me,  does  the  magnetic  virtue  of  the  needles  of  the 
compasses  of  all  those  ships  attract  them  thither  ? 

Once  more.  Saj,  you  are  in  the  country;  in  some  high 
land  of  lakes.  Take  almost  any  path  you  please,  and  ten  to  one 
it  carries  you  down  in  a  dale,  and  leaves  you  there  by  a  pool  in 
the  stream.  There  is  magic  in  it.  Let  the  most  absent-minded 
of  men  be  plunged  in  his  deepest  reveries — stand  that  man  on 
his  legs,  set  his  feet  a-going,  and  he  will  infallibly  lead  you  to 
water,  if  water  there  be  in  all  that  region.  Should  you  ever  be 
athirst  in  the  great  American  desert,  try  this  experiment,  if  your 
caravan  happen  to  be  supplied  with  a  metaphysical  professor. 
Yes,  as  every  one  knows,  meditation  and  water  are  wedded  for 
ever. 

But  here  is  an  artist.  He  desires  to  paint  you  the  dream- 
iest, shadiest,  quietest,  most  enchanting  bit  of  romantic  land- 
scape in  all  the  valley  of  the  Saco.  What  is  the  chief  element 
he  employs  ?     There  stand  his  trees,  each  with  a  hollow  trunk, 


LOO MINGS 


as  if  a  hermit  and  a  crucifix  were  within  ;  and  here  sleeps  his 
meadow,  and  there  sleep  his  cattle  ;  and  up  from  yonder  cottage 
goes  a  sleepy  smoke.  Deep  into  distant  woodlands  winds  a 
mazy  way,  reaching  to  overlapping  spurs  of  mountains  bathed 
in  their  hill-side  blue.  But  though  the  picture  lies  thus 
tranced,  and  though  this  pine-tree  shakes  down  its  sighs  like 
leaves  upon  this  shepherd's  head,  yet  all  were  vain,  unless  the 
shepherd's  eye  were  fixed  upon  the  magic  stream  before  him. 
Go  visit  the  Prairies  in  June,  when  for  scores  on  scores  of 
miles  you  wade  knee-deep  among  Tiger-lilies — what  is  the 
one  charm  wanting  ? — Water — there  is  not  a  drop  of  water 
there  !  Were  Niagara  but  a  cataract  of  sand,  would  you 
travel  your  thousand  miles  to  see  it  ?  Why  did  the  poor  poet, 
of  Tennessee,  upon  suddenly  receiving  two  handfuls  of  silver, 
deliberate  whether  to  buy  him  a  coat,  which  he  sadly 
needed,  or  invest  his  money  in  a  pedestrian  trip  to  Rockaway 
Beach?  Why  is  almost  every  robust  healthy  boy  with  a 
robust  healthy  soul  in  him,  at  some  time  or  other  crazy  to  go 
to  sea  ?  Why  upon  your  first  voyage  as  a  passenger,  did  you 
yourself  feel  such  a  mystical  vibration,  when  first  told  that  you 
and  your  ship  were  now  out  of  sight  of  land  ?  Why  did  the 
old  Persians  hold  the  sea  holy  ?  Why  did  the  Greeks  give  it 
a  separate  deity,  and  own  brother  of  Jove  ?  Surely  all  this  is 
not  without  meaning.  And  still  deeper  the  meaning  of  that 
story  of  Narcissus,  who  because  he  could  not  grasp  the  torment- 
ing, mild  image  he  saw  in  the  fountain,  plunged  into  it  and 
was  drowned.  But  that  same  image,  we  ourselves  see  in  all  rivers 
and  oceans.  It  is  the  image  of  the  ungraspable  phantom  of 
life ;  and  this  is  the  key  to  it  all. 

Now,  when  I  say  that  I  am  in  the  habit  of  going  to  sea 
whenever  I  begin  to  grow  hazy  about  the  eyes,  and  begin  to  be 
over  conscious  of  my  lungs,  I  do  not  mean  to  have  it  inferred 
that  I  ever  go  to  sea  as  a  passenger.  For  to  go  as  a  passenger 
you  must  needs  have  a  purse,  and  a  purse  is  but  a  rag  unless 


LOOMINGS 


you  have  something  in  it.  Besides,  passengers  get  sea-sick — 
grow  quarrelsome — don't  sleep  of  nights — do  not  enjoy  them- 
selves much,  as  a  general  thing ; — no,  I  never  go  as  a  passen- 
ger ;  nor,  though  I  am  something  of  a  salt,  do  I  ever 
go  to  sea  as  a  Commodore,  or  a  Captain,  or  a  Cook.  I  aban- 
don the  glory  and  distinction  of  such  offices  to  those  who  like 
them.  For  my  part,  I  abominate  all  honorable  respectable 
toils,  trials,  and  tribulations  of  every  kind  whatsoever.  It  is 
quite  as  much  as  I  can  do  to  take  care  of  myself,  without 
taking  care  of  ships,  barques,  brigs,  schooners,  and  what  not. 
And  as  for  going  as  cook, — though  I  confess  there  is  considerable 
glory  in  that,  a  cook  being  a  sort  of  officer  on  ship-board — 
yet,  somehow,  I  never  fancied  broiling  fowls ; — though  once 
broiled,  judiciously  buttered,  and  judgmatically  salted  and 
peppered,  there  is  no  one  who  will  speak  more  respectfully,  not 
to  say  reverentially,  of  a  broiled  fowl  than  I  will.  It  is  out  of 
the  idolatrous  dotings  of  the  old  Egyptians  upon  broiled  ibis 
and  roasted  river  horse,  that  you  see  the  mummies  of  those 
creatures  in  their  huge  bake-houses  the  pyramids. 

No,  when  I  go  to  sea,  I  go  as  a  simple  sailor,  right  before 
the  mast,  plumb  down  into  the  forecastle,  aloft  there  to  the 
royal  mast-head.  True,  they  rather  order  me  about  some,  and 
make  me  jump  from  spar  to  spar,  like  a  grasshopper  in  a 
May  meadow.  And  at  first,  this  sort  of  thing  is  unpleasant 
enough.  It  touches  one's  sense  of  honor,  particularly  if  you 
come  of  an  old  established  family  in  the  land,  the  Van  Rensse- 
laers,  or  Randolphs,  or  Hardicanutes.  And  more  than  all, 
if  just  previous  to  putting  your  hand  into  the  tar-pot,  you  have 
been  lording  it  as  a  country  schoolmaster,  making  the  tallest 
boys  stand  in  awe  of  you.  The  transition  is  a  keen  one,  I 
assure  you,  from  a  schoolmaster  to  a  sailor,  and  requires  a  strong 
decoction  of  Seneca  and  the  Stoics  to  enable  you  to  grin  and 
bear  it.     But  even  this  wears  off  in  time. 

What  of  it,  if  some  old  hunks  of  a  sea-captain  orders  me  to 


L  O  O  M  I  N  G  S 


get  a  broom  and  sweep  down  the  decks  ?  What  does  that 
indignity  amount  to,  weighed,  I  mean,  in  the  scales  of  the  New 
Testament  ?  Do  you  think  the  archangel  Gabriel  thinks  any- 
thing the  less  of  me,  because  I  promptly  and  respectfully  obey 
that  old  hunks  in  that  particular  instance  ?  "Who  aint  a  slave  ? 
Tell  me  that.  Well,  then,  however  the  old  sea-captains  ma)' 
order  me  about — however  they  may  thump  and  punch  me 
about,  I  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  it  is  all  right ; 
that  everybody  else  is  one  way  or  other  served  in  much  the 
same  way — either  in  a  physical  or  metaphysical  point  of  view, 
that  is ;  and  so  the  universal  thump  is  passed  round,  and  all 
hands  should  rub  each  other's  shoulder-blades,  and  be  con- 
tent. 

Again,  I  always  go  to  sea  as  a  sailor,  because  they  make 
a  point  of  paying  me  for  my  trouble,  whereas  they  never  pay 
passengers  a  single  penny  that  I  ever  heard  of.  On  the  con- 
trary, passengers  themselves  must  pay.  And  there  is  all  the 
difference  in  the  world  between  paying  and  being  paid.  The 
act  of  paying  is  perhaps  the  most  uncomfortable  infliction  that 
the  two  orchard  thieves  entailed  upon  us.  But  being  paid, — 
what  will  compare  with  it  ?  The  urbane  activity  with  which  a 
man  receives  money  is  really  marvellous,  considering  that  we  so 
earnestly  believe  money  to  be  the  root  of  all  earthly  ills,  and 
that  on  no  account  can  a  monied  man  enter  heaven.  Ah  !  how 
cheerfully  we  consign  ourselves  to  perdition  ! 

Finally,  I  always  go  to  sea  as  a  sailor,  because  of  the  whole- 
some exercise  and  pure  air  of  the  forecastle  deck.  For  as  in 
this  world,  head  winds  are  far  more  prevalent  than  winds  from 
astern  (that  is,  if  you  never  violate  the  Pythagorean  maxim),  so 
for  the  most  part  the  Commodore  on  the  quarter-deck  gets  his 
atmosphere  at  second  hand  from  the  sailors  on  the  forecastle. 
He  thinks  he  breathes  it  first ;  but  not  so.  In  much  the  same 
way  do  the  commonalty  lead  their  leaders  in  many  other 
things,  at  the  same  time  that  the  leaders  little  suspect  it.     But 


LOOMINGS 


wherefore  it  was  that  after  having  repeatedly  smelt  the  sea  as  a 
merchant  sailor,  I  should  now  take  it  into  my  head  to  go  on  a 
whaling  voyage  ;  this  the  invisible  police  officer  of  the  Fates,  who 
has  the  constant  surveillance  of  me,  and  secretly  dogs  me,  and 
influences  me  in  some  unaccountable  way— he  can  better  answer 
than  any  one  else.  And,  doubtless,  my  going  on  this  whaling 
voyage,  formed  part  of  the  grand  programme  of  Providence  that 
was  drawn  up  a  long  time  ago.  It  came  in  as  a  sort  of  brief 
interlude  and  solo  between  more  extensive  performances.  I  take 
it  that  this  part  of  the  bill  must  have  run  something  like  this  : 

"  Grand  Contested  Election  for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States. 

"  WHALING-     VOYAGE     BY     ONE     ISHMAEL. 

"BLOODY   BATTLE    IN   AFFGHANISTAN." 

Though  I  cannot  tell  why  it  was  exactly  that  those  stage 
managers,  the  Fates,  put  me  down  for  this  shabby  part  of  a 
whaling  voyage,  when  others  were  set  down  for  magnificent 
parts  in  high  tragedies,  and  short  and  easy  parts  in  genteel 
comedies,  and  jolly  parts  in  farces — though  I  cannot  tell  why 
this  was  exactly ;  yet,  now  that  I  recall  all  the  circumstances,  I 
think  I  can  see  a  little  into  the  springs  and  motives  which  being 
cunningly  presented  to  me  under  various  disguises,  induced  me 
to  set  about  performing  the  part  I  did,  besides  cajoling  me  into 
the  delusion  that  it  was  a  choice  resulting  from  my  own  unbiased 
freewill  and  discriminating  judgment. 

Chief  among  these  motives  was  the  overwhelming  idea  of  the 
great  whale  himself.  Such  a  portentous  and  mysterious  monster 
roused  all  my  curiosity.  Then  the  wild  and  distant  seas  where 
he  rolled  his  island  bulk  ;  the  undeliverable,  nameless  perils  of 
the  whale  ;  these,  with  all  the  attending  marvels  of  a  thousand 
Patagonian  sights  and  sounds,  helped  to  sway  me  to  my  wish. 
With  other  men,  perhaps,  such  things  would  not  have  been 
inducements ;  but  as  for  me,  I  am  tormented  with  an  everlast- 
ing itch  for  things  remote.      I  love  to  sail  forbidden  seas,  and 


THE    CARPET-BAG, 


land  on  barbarous  coasts.  Not  ignoring  what  is  good,  I  am 
quick  to  perceive  a  horror,  and  could  still  be  social  with  it 
— would  they  let  me — since  it  is  but  well  to  be  on  friendly 
terms  with  all  the  inmates  of  the  place  one  lodges  in. 

By  reason  of  these  things,  then,  the  whaling  voyage  was  wel- 
come ;  the  great  flood-gates  of  the  wonder-world  swung  open, 
and  in  the  wild  conceits  that  swayed  me  to  my  purpose,  two 
and  two  there  floated  into  my  inmost  soul,  endless  processions 
of  the  whale,  and,  mid  most  of  them  all,  one  grand  hooded  phan- 
tom, like  a  snow  hill  in  the  air. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE    CARPET-BAG. 

I  stuffed  a  shirt  or  two  into  my  old  carpet-bag,  tucked  it 
under  my  arm,  and  started  for  Cape  Horn  and  the  Pacific. 
Quitting  the  good  city  of  old  Manhatto,  I  duly  arrived  in  New 
Bedford.  It  was  on  a  Saturday  night  in  December.  Much 
was  I  disappointed  upon  learning  that  the  little  packet  for 
Nantucket  had  already  sailed,  and  that  no  way  of  reaching  that 
place  would  offer,  till  the  following  Monday. 

As  most  young  candidates  for  the  pains  and  penalties  of 
whaling  stop  at  this  same  New  Bedford,  thence  to  embark  on 
their  voyage,  it  may  as  well  be  related  that  I,  for  one,  had  no 
idea  of  so  doing.  For  my  mind  was  made  up  to  sail  in  no 
other  than  a  Nantucket  craft,  because  there  was  a  fine,  boisterous 
something  about  everything  connected  with  that  famous  old 
island,  which  amazingly  pleased  me.  Besides  though  New 
Bedford  has  of  late  been  gradually  monopolizing  the  business 
of  whaling,  and  though  in  this  matter  poor  old  Nantucket  is 
now  much  behind  her,  yet  Nantucket  was  her  great  original — 


THE    CARPET-BAG 


the  Tyre  of  this  Carthage ; — the  place  where  the  first  dead 
American  whale  was  stranded.  Where  else  but  from  Nantucket 
did  those  aboriginal  whalemen,  the  Red-Men,  first  sally  out  in 
canoes  to  give  chase  to  the  Leviathan  ?  And  where  but  from 
Nantucket,  too,  did  that  first  adventurous  little  sloop  put  forth, 
partly  laden  with  imported  cobble-stones — so  goes  the  story — 
to  throw  at  the  whales,  in  order  to  discover  when  they  were 
nigh  enough  to  risk  a  harpoon  from  the  bowsprit  ? 

Now  having  a  night,  a  day,  and  still  another  night  following 
before  me  in  New  Bedford,  ere  I  could  embark  for  my  destined 
port,  it  became  a  matter  of  concernment  where  I  was  to  eat 
and  sleep  meanwhile.  It  was  a  very  dubious-looking,  nay,  a 
very  dark  and  dismal  night,  bitingly  cold  and  cheerless.  I  knew 
no  one  in  the  place.  With  anxious  grapnels  I  had  sounded 
my  pocket,  and  only  brought  up  a  few  pieces  of  silver, — So, 
wherever  you  go,  Ishmael,  said  I  to  myself,  as  I  stood  in  the 
middle  of  a  dreary  street  shouldering  my  bag,  and  comparing 
the  gloom  towards  the  north  with  the  darkness  towards  the 
south — wherever  in  your  wisdom  you  may  conclude  to  lodge 
for  the  night,  my  dear  Ishmael,  be  sure  to  inquire  the  price, 
and  don't  be  too  particular. 

With  halting  steps  I  paced  the  streets,  and  passed  the  sign  of 
"The  Crossed  Harpoons" — but  it  looked  too  expensive  and 
jolly  there.  Further  on,  from  the  bright  red  windows  of  the 
"  Sword-Fish  Inn,"  there  came  such  fervent  rays,  that  it  seemed 
to  have  melted  the  packed  snow  and  ice  from  before  the  house, 
for  everywhere  else  the  congealed  frost  lay  ten  inches  thick  in  a 
hard,  asphaltic  pavement, — rather  weary  for  me,  when  I  struck 
my  foot  against  the  flinty  projections,  because  from  hard, 
remorseless  service  the  soles  of  my  boots  were  in  a  most 
miserable  plight.  Too  expensive  and  jolly,  again  thought  I, 
pausing  one  moment  to  watch  the  broad  glare  in  the  street,  and 
hear  the  sounds  of  the  tinkling  glasses  within.  But  go  on, 
Ishmael,  said  I  at  last ;  don't  you  hear  ?  get  away  from  before 


THE    CARPET-BAG, 


the  door ;  your  patched  boots  are  stopping  the  way.  So  on  I 
went.  I  now  by  instinct  followed  the  streets  that  took  me 
waterward,  for  there,  doubtless,  were  the  cheapest,  if  not  the 
cheeriest  inns. 

Such  dreary  streets  !  blocks  of  blackness,  not  houses,  on 
either  hand,  and  here  and  there  a  candle,  like  a  candle  moving 
about  in  a  tomb.  At  this  hour  of  the  night,  of  the  last  day 
of  the  week,  that  quarter  of  the  town  proved  all  but  deserted. 
But  presently  I  came  to  a  smoky  light  proceeding  from  a  low, 
wide  building,  the  door  of  which  stood  invitingly  open.  It  had 
a  careless  look,  as  if  it  wei'e  meant  for  the  uses  of  the  public ; 
so,  entering,  the  first  thing  I  did  was  to  stumble  over  an  ash- 
box  in  the  porch.  Ha !  thought  I,  ha,  as  the  flying  particles 
almost  choked  me,  are  these  ashes  from  that  destroyed  city, 
Gomorrah  ?  But  "  The  Crossed  Harpoons,''  and  "  The  Sword- 
Fish  ?" — this,  then,  must  needs  be  the  sign  of  "  The  Trap." 
However,  I  picked  myself  up  and  hearing  a  loud  voice  within, 
pushed  on  and  opened  a  second,  interior  door. 

It  seemed  the  great  Black  Parliament  sitting  in  Tophet.  A 
hundred  black  faces  turned  round  in  their  rows  to  peer ;  and 
beyond,  a  black  Angel  of  Doom  was  beating  a  book  in  a 
pulpit.  It  was  a  negro  church ;  and  the  preacher's  text  was 
about  the  blackness  of  darkness,  and  the  weeping  and  wailing 
and  teeth-gnashing  there.  Ha,  Ishmael,  muttered  I,  backing 
out,  Wretched  entertainment  at  the  sign  of  "  The  Trap !" 

Moving  on,  I  at  last  came  to  a  dim  sort  of  light  not  far  from 
the  docks,  and  heard  a  forlorn  creaking  in  the  air ;  and  looking 
up,  saw  a  swinging  sign  over  the  door  with  a  white  painting 
upon  it,  faintly  representing  a  tall  straight  jet  of  misty  spray, 
and  these  words  underneath — "  The  Spouter-Inn : — Peter  Coffin." 

Coffin  ? — Spouter  ? — Rather  ominous  in  that  particular  con- 
nexion, thought  I.  But  it  is  a  common  name  in  Nantucket, 
they  say,  and  I  suppose  this  Peter  here  is  an  emigrant  from  there. 
As  the  light  looked  so  dim,  and  the  place,  for  the  time,  looked 

1* 


10  THE    CARPET-BAG. 

quiet  enough,  and  the  dilapidated  little  wooden  house  itself  looked 
as  if  it  might  have  been  carted  here  from  the  ruins  of  some  burnt 
district,  and  as  the  swinging  sign  had  a  poverty-stricken  sort  of 
creak  to  it,  I  thought  that  here  was  the  very  spot  for  cheap 
lodgings,  and  the  best  of  pea  coffee. 

It  was  a  queer  sort  of  place — a  gable-ended  old  house,  one 
side  palsied  as  it  were,  and  leaning  over  sadly.  It  stood  on  a 
sharp  bleak  corner,  where  that  tempestuous  wind  Euroclydon 
kept  up  a  worse  howling  than  ever  it  did  about  poor  Paul's 
tossed  craft.  Euroclydon,  nevertheless,  is  a  mighty  pleasant 
zephyr  to  any  one  in-doors,  with  his  feet  on  the  hob  quietly 
toasting  for  bed.  "  In  judging  of  that  tempestuous  wind  called 
Euroclydon,"  says  an  old  writer — of  whose  works  I  possess  the 
only  copy  extant — "  it  maketh  a  marvellous  difference,  whether 
thou  lookest  out  at  it  from  a  glass  window  where  the  frost  is  all 
on  the  outside,  or  whether  thou  observest  it  from  that  sashless 
window,  where  the  frost  is  on  both  sides,  and  of  which  the 
wight  Death  is  the  only  glazier."  True  enough,  thought  I,  as 
this  passage  occurred  to  my  mind — old  black-letter,  thou  reason- 
est  well.  Yes,  these  eyes  are  Avindows,  and  this  body  of  mine 
is  the  house.  What  a  pity  they  didn't  stop  up  the  chinks  and 
the  crannies  though,  and  thrust  in  a  little  lint  here  and  there. 
But  it's  too  late  to  make  any  improvements  now.  The  universe 
is  finished ;  the  copestone  is  on,  and  the  chips  were  carted  off 
a  million  years  ago.  Poor  Lazarus  there,  chattering  his  teeth 
against  the  curbstone  for  his  pillow,  and  shaking  off  his  tatters 
with  his  shiverings,  he  might  plug  up  both  ears  with  rags,  and 
put  a  corn-cob  into  his  mouth,  and  yet  that  would  not  keep  out 
the  tempestuous  Euroclydon.  Euroclydon !  says  old  Dives,  in 
his  red  silken  wrapper — (he  had  a  redder  one  afterwards)  pooh, 
pooh  !  What  a  fine  frosty  night ;  how  Orion  glitters ;  what 
northern  lights  !  Let  them  talk  of  their  oriental  summer  climes 
of  everlasting  conservatories  ;  give  me  the  privilege  of  making 
my  own  summer  with  my  own  coals. 


THE    SPOUTER-INN.  11 

But  what  thinks  Lazarus  ?  Can  he  warm  his  blue  hands  by 
holding  them  up  to  the  grand  northern  lights  ?  Would  not 
Lazarus  rather  be  in  Sumatra  than  here  ?  Would  he  not  far 
rather  lay  him  down  lengthwise  along  the  line  of  the  equator ; 
yea,  ye  gods  !  go  down  to  the  fiery  pit  itself,  in  order  to  keep 
out  this  frost  ? 

Now,  that  Lazarus  should  lie  stranded  there  on  the  curbstone 
before  the  door  of  Dives,  this  is  more  wonderful  than  that  an 
iceberg  should  be  moored  to  one  of  the  Moluccas.  Yet  Dives 
himself,  he  too  lives  like  a  Czar  in  an  ice  palace  made  of  frozen 
sighs,  and  being  a  president  of  a  temperance  society,  he  only 
drinks  the  tepid  tears  of  orphans. 

But  no  more  of  this  blubbering  now,  we  are  going  a- whaling, 
and  there  is  plenty  of  that  yet  to  come.  Let  us  scrape  the  ice 
from  our  frosted  feet,  and  see  what  sort  of  a  place  this  "  Spouter'' 
may  be. 


CHAPTER  IE. 

THE     SPOUTER-INN. 

Entering  that  gable-ended  Spouter-Inn,  you  found  yourself 
in  a  wide,  low,  straggling  entry  with  old-fashioned  wainscots, 
reminding  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  some  condemned  old  craft- 
On  one  side  hung  a  very  large  oil-painting  so  thoroughly  be- 
smoked,  and  every  way  defaced,  that  in  the  unequal  cross-lights 
by  which  you  viewed  it,  it  was  only  by  diligent  study  and  a 
series  of  systematic  visits  to  it,  and  careful  inquiry  of  the  neigh- 
bors, that  you  could  any  way  arrive  at  an  understanding  of  its 
purpose.  Such  unaccountable  masses  of  shades  and  shadows, 
that  at  first  you  almost  thought  some  ambitious  young  artist, 
in  the  time  of  the  New  England  hags,  had  endeavored  to  deli- 
neate chaos  bewitched.      But  by  dint  of  much  and  earnest 


12  THE    SPOUTER-INN. 

contemplation,  and  oft  repeated  ponderings,  and  especially  by 
throwing  open  the  little  window  towards  the  back  of  the  entry, 
you  at  last  come  to  the  conclusion  that  such  an  idea,  however 
wild,  might  not  be  altogether  unwarranted. 

But  what  most  puzzled  and  confounded  you  was  a  long, 
limber,  portentous,  black  mass  of  something  hovering  in  the 
centre  of  the  picture  over  three  blue,  dim,  perpendicular  lines 
floating  in  a  nameless  yeast.  A  boggy,  soggy,  squitchy  picture 
truly,  enough  to  drive  a  nervous  man  distracted.  Yet  was 
there  a  sort  of  indefinite,  half-attained,  unimaginable  sublimity 
about  it  that  fairly  froze  you  to  it,  till  you  involuntarily  took  an 
oath  with  yourself  to  find  out  what  that  marvellous  painting 
meant.  Ever  and  anon  a  bright,  but,  alas,  deceptive  idea  would 
dart  you  through. — It's  the  Black  Sea  in  a  midnight  gale. — It's 
the  unnatural  combat  of  the  four  primal  elements. — It's  a 
blasted  heath. — It's  a  Hyperborean  winter  scene. — It's  the 
breaking-up  of  the  ice-bound  stream  of  Time.  But  at  last  all 
these  fancies  yielded  to  that  one  portenfams  something  in  the 
picture's  midst.  That  once  found  out,  and  all  the  rest  were 
plain.  But  stop ;  does  it  not  bear  a  faint  resemblance  to  a 
gigantic  fish  ?  even  the  great  leviathan  himself? 

In  fact,  the  artist's  design  seemed  this  :  a  final  theory  of  my 
own,  partly  based  upon  the  aggregated  opinions  of  many  aged 
persons  with  whom  I  conversed  upon  the  subject.  The  picture 
represents  a  Cape-Horner  in  a  great  hurricane ;  the  half-foun- 
dered ship  weltering  there  with  its  three  dismantled  masts 
alone  visible ;  and  an  exasperated  whale,  purposing  to  spring 
clean  over  the  craft,  is  in  the  enormous.act  of  impaling  himself 
upon  the  three  mast-heads. 

The  opposite  wall  of  this  entry  was  hung  all  over  with  a 
heathenish  array  of  monstrous  clubs  and  spears.  Some  were 
thickly  set  with  glittering  teeth  resembling  ivory  saws ;  others 
were  tufted  with  knots  of  human  hair ;  and  one  was  sickle-shaped, 
with  a  vast  handle  sweeping  round  like  the  segment  made  in 


THE    SPOUTER-INN.  13 

the  new-mown  grass  by  a  long-armed  mower.  You  shuddered 
as  you  gazed,  and  wondered  what  monstrous  cannibal  and 
savage  could  ever  have  gone  a  death-harvesting  with  such  a 
hacking,  horrifying  implement.  Mixed  with  these  were  rusty 
old  whaling  lances  and  harpoons  all  broken  and  deformed. 
Some  were  storied  weapons.  With  this  once  long  lance,  now 
wildly  elbowed,  fifty  years  ago  did  Nathan  Swain  kill  fifteen 
whales  between  a  sunrise  and  a  sunset.  And  that  harpoon — so 
like  a  corkscrew  now — was  flung  in  Javan  seas,  and  run  away 
with  by  a  whale,  years  afterwards  slain  off  the  Cape  of  Blanco. 
The  original  iron  entered  nigh  the  tail,  and,  like  a  restless  needle 
sojourning  in  the  body  of  a  man,  travelled  full  forty  feet,  and 
at  last  was  found  imbedded  in  the  hump. 

Crossing  this  dusky  entry,  and  on  through  yon  low-arched 
way — cut  through  what  in  old  times  must  have  been  a  great 
central  chimney  with  fire-places  all  round — you  enter  the  public 
room.  A  still  duskier  place  is  this,  with  such  low  ponderous 
beams  above,  and  such  old  wrinkled  planks  beneath,  that  you 
would  almost  fancy  you  trod  some  old  craft's  cockpits,  espe- 
cially of  such  a  howling  night,  when  this  corner-anchored  old 
ark  rocked  so  furiously.  On  one  side  stood  a  long,  low,  shelf- 
like table  covered  with  cracked  glass  cases,  filled  with  dusty 
rarities  gathered  from  this  wide  world's  remotest  nooks.  Pro- 
jecting from  the  further  angle  of  the  room  stands  a  dark- 
looking  den — the  bar — a  rude  attempt  at  a  right  whale's  head. 
Be  that  how  it  may,  there  stands  the  vast  arched  bone  of  the 
whale's  jaw,  so  wide,  a  coach  might  almost  drive  beneath  it. 
Within  are  shabby  shelves,  ranged  round  with  old  decanters, 
bottles,  flasks  ;  and  in  those  jaws  of  swift  destruction,  like  ano- 
ther cursed  Jonah  (by  which  name  indeed  they  called  him), 
bustles  a  little  withered  old  man,  who,  for  their  money,  dearly 
sells  the  sailors  deliriums  and  death. 

Abominable  are  the  tumblers  into  which  he  pours  his  poison. 
Though   true  cylinders  without — within,   the  villanous  green 


14  THE    SPOUTER-INN. 

goggling  glasses  deceitfully  tapered  downwards  to  a  cheating 
bottom.  Parallel  meridians  rudely  pecked  into  the  glass,  sur- 
round these  footpads'  goblets.  Fill  to  this  mark,  and  your 
charge  is  but  a  penny  ;  to  this  a  penny  more  ;  and  so  on  to  the 
full  glass — the  Cape  Horn  measure,  which  you  may  gulph  down 
for  a  shilling. 

Upon  entering  the  place  I  found  a  number  of  young  seamen 
gathered  about  a  table,  examining  by  a  dim  light  divers  speci- 
mens of  slcrimshander.  I  sought  the  landlord,  and  telling  him 
I  desired  to  be  accommodated  with  a  room,  received  for  answer 
that  his  house  was  full — not  a  bed  unoccupied.  "  But  avast," 
he  added,  tapping  his  forehead,  "  you  haint  no  objections  to 
sharing  a  harpooneer's  blanket,  have  ye  ?  I  s'pose  you  are  goin' 
a  whalin',  so  you'd  better  get  used  to  that  sort  of  thing." 

I  told  him  that  I  never  liked  to  sleep  two  in  a  bed  ;  that  if  I 
should  ever  do  so,  it  would  depend  upon  who  the  harpooneer 
might  be,  and  that  if  he  (the  landlord)  really  had  no  other 
place  for  me,  and  the  harpooneer  was  not  decidedly  objection- 
able, why  rather  than  wander  further  about  a  strange  town  on  so 
bitter  a  night,  I  would  put  up  with  the  half  of  any  decent  man's 
blanket. 

"  I  thought  so.  All  right ;  take  a  seat.  Supper  ? — you 
want  supper  ?     Supper  '11  be  ready  directly." 

I  sat  down  on  an  old  wooden  settle,  carved  all  over  like 
a  bench  on  the  Battery.  At  one  end  a  ruminating  tar  was  still 
further  adorning  it  with  his  jack-knife,  stooping  over  and  dili- 
gently working  away  at  the  space  between  his  legs.  He  was 
trying  his  hand  at  a  ship  under  full  sail,  but  he  didn't  make 
much  headway,  I  thought. 

At  last  some  four  or  five  of  us  were  summoned  to  our  meal 
in  an  adjoining  room.  It  was  cold  as  Iceland — no  fire  at  all 
— the  landlord  said  he  couldn't  afford  it.  Nothing  but  two  dismal 
tallow  candles,  each  in  a  winding  sheet.  We  were  fain  to  but- 
ton up  our  monkey  jackets,  and  hold  to  our  lips  cups  of  scalding 


THE    SPOUTER-INN.  15 

tea  with  our  half  frozen  fingers.  But  the  fare  was  of  the  most 
substantial  kind — not  only  meat  and  potatoes,  but  dumplings  ; 
good  heavens  !  dumplings  for  supper !  One  young  fellow  in  a 
green  box  coat,  addressed  himself  to  these  dumplings  in  a  most 
direful  manner. 

"  My  boy,"  said  the  landlord,  "  you'll  have  the  nightmare 
to  a  dead  sartainty." 

"  Landlord,"  I  whispered,  "  that  aint  the  harpooneer,  is  it  ?" 

"  Oh,  no,"  said  he,  looking  a  sort  of  diabolically  funny,  "  the 
harpooner  is  a  dark  complexioned  chap.  He  never  eats  dump- 
lings, he  don't — he  eats  nothing  but  steaks,  and  likes  'em 
rare." 

"  The  devil  he  does,"  says  I.  "  Where  is  that  harpooneer  ?  Is 
he  here  ?" 

"  He'll  be  here  afore  long,"  was  the  answer. 

I  could  not  help  it,  but  I  began  to  feel  suspicious  of  this 
"  dark  complexioned"  harpooneer.  At  any  rate,  I  made  up  my 
mind  that  if  it  so  turned  out  that  we  should  sleep  together,  he 
must  undress  and  get  into  bed  before  I  did. 

Supper  over,  the  company  went  back  to  the  bar-room,  when, 
knowing  not  what  else  to  do  with  myself,  I  resolved  to  spend  the 
rest  of  the  evening  as  a  looker  on. 

Presently  a  rioting  noise  was  heard  without.  Starting  up, 
the  landlord  cried,  "  That's  the  Grampus's  crew.  I  seed  her 
reported  in  the  offing  this  morning ;  a  three  years'  voyage,  and 
a  full  ship.  Hurrah,  boys ;  now  we'll  have  the  latest  news  from 
the  Feegees." 

A  tramping  of  sea  boots  was  heard  in  the  entry ;  the  door 
was  flung  open,  and  in  rolled  a  wild  set  of  mariners  enough. 
Enveloped  in  their  shaggy  watch  coats,  and  with  their  heads 
muffled  in  woollen  comforters,  all  bedarned  and  ragged,  and 
their  beards  stiff  with  icicles,  they  seemed  an  eruption  of  bears 
from  Labrador.  They  had  just  landed  from  their  boat,  and  this 
was  the  first  house  they  entered.     No  wonder,  then,  that  they 


16  THE    SPOUTER-INN. 

made  a  straight  wake  for  the  whale's  mouth — the  bar — when 
the  wrinkled  little  old  Jonah,  there  officiating,  soon  poured 
them  out  brimmers  all  round.  One  complained  of  a  bad  cold 
in  his  head,  upon  which  Jonah  mixed  him  a  pitch-like  potion  of 
gin  and  molasses,  which  he  swore  was  a  sovereign  cure  for 
all  colds  and  catarrhs  whatsoever,  never  mind  of  how  longstand- 
ing, or  whether  caught  off  the  coast  of  Labrador,  or  on  the  wea- 
ther side  of  an  ice-island. 

The  liquor  soon  mounted  into  their  heads,as  it  generally  does 
even  with  the  arrantest  topers  newly  landed  from  sea,  and  they 
began  capering  about  most  obstreperously. 

I  observed,  however,  that  one  of  them  held  somewhat  aloof, 
and  though  he  seemed  desirous  not  to  spoil  the  hilarity  of  his 
shipmates  by  his  own  sober  face,  yet  upon  the  whole  he  refrained 
from  making  as  much  noise  as  the  rest.  This  man  interested 
me  at  once ;  and  since  the  sea-gods  had  ordained  that  he  should 
soon  become  my  shipmate  (though  but  a  sleeping-partner  one, 
so  far  as  this  narrative  is  concerned),  I  will  here  venture  upon  a 
little  description  of  him.  He  stood  full  six  feet  in  height,  with 
noble  shoulders,  and  a  chest  like  a  coffer-dam.  I  have  seldom 
seen  such  brawn  in  a  man.  His  face  was  deeply  brown  and 
burnt,  making  his  white  teeth  dazzling  by  the  contrast ;  while 
in  the  deep  shadows  of  his  eyes  floated  some  reminiscences  that 
did  not  seem  to  give  him  much  joy.  His  voice  at  once 
.announced  that  he  was  a  Southerner,  and  from  his  fine  stature, 
I  thought  he  must  be  one  of  those  tall  mountaineers  from  the 
Alleganian  Ridge  in  Virginia.  When  the  revelry  of  his  compa- 
nions had  mounted  to  its  height,  this  man  slipped  away  unob- 
served, and  I  saw  no  more  of  him  till  he  became  my  comrade 
on  the  sea.  In  a  few  minutes,  however,  he  was  missed  by  his 
shipmates,  and  being,  it  seems,  for  some  reason  a  huge  favorite 
with  them,  they  raised  a  cry  of"  Bulkington !  Bulkington  !  where 's 
Bulkington  ?"  and  darted  out  of  the  house  in  pursuit  of  him. 

It  was  now  about  nine  o'clock,  and  the  room  seeming  almost 


THE    SPOUTER-INN.  17 

supernaturally  quiet  after  these  orgies,  I  began  to  congratulate 
myself  upon  a  little  plan  that  had  occurred  to  me  just  previous 
to  the  entrance  of  the  seamen. 

No  man  prefers  to  sleep  two  in  a  bed.  In  fact,  you  would  a 
good  deal  rather  not  sleep  with  your  own  brother.  I  don't 
know  how  it  is,  but  people  like  to  be  private  when  they  are 
sleeping.  And  when  it  comes  to  sleeping  with  an  unknown 
stranger,  in  a  strange  inn,  in  a  strange  town,  and  that  stranger 
a  harpooneer,  then  your  objections  indefinitely  multiply.  Nor 
was  there  any  earthly  reason  why  I  as  a  sailor  should  sleep  two 
in  a  bed,  more  than  anybody  else ;  for  sailors  no  more  sleep 
two  in  a  bed  at  sea,  than  bachelor  Kings  do  ashore.  To  be 
sure  they  all  sleep  together  in  one  apartment,  but  you  have 
your  own  hammock,  and  cover  yourself  with  your  own 
blanket,  and  sleep  in  your  own  skin. 

The  more  I  pondered  over  this  harpooneer,  the  more  I 
abominated  the  thought  of  sleeping  with  him.  It  was  fair  to 
presume  that  being  a  harpooneer,  his  linen  or  woollen,  as  the 
case  might  be,  would  not  be  of  the  tidiest,  certainly  none  of  the 
finest.  I  began  to  twitch  all  over.  Besides,  it  was  getting  late, 
and  my  decent  harpooneer  ought  to  be  home  and  going  bed- 
wards.  Suppose  now,  he  should  tumble  in  upon  me  at  midnight 
— how  could  I  tell  from  what  vile  hole  he  had  been  coming  ? 

"  Landlord  !  I've  changed  my  mind  about  that  harpooneer. 
— I  shan't  sleep  with  him.     I'll  try  the  bench  here." 

"  Just  as  you  please ;  I'm  sorry  I  cant  spare  ye  a  table- 
cloth for  a  mattress,  and  it's  a  plaguy  rough  board  here" — 
feeling  of  the  knots  and  notches.  "  But  wait  a  bit,  Skrimshander ; 
I've  got  a  carpenter's  plane  there  in  the  bar — wait,  I  say,  and 
I'll  make  ye  snug  enough."  So  saying  he  procured  the  plane ; 
and  with  his  old  silk  handkerchief  first  dusting  the  bench, 
vigorously  set  to  planing  away  at  my  bed,  the  while  grinning 
like  an  ape.  The  shavings  flew  right  and  left ;  till  at  last  the 
plane-iron  came   bump  against  an  indestructible  knot.     The 


18  THESPOUTER-INN. 

landlord  was  near  spraining  his  wrist,  and  I  told  him  for 
heaven's  sake  to  quit — the  bed  was  soft  enough  to  suit  me,  and 
I  did  not  know  how  all  the  planing  in  the  world  could  make 
eider  down  of  a  pine  plank.  So  gathering  up  the  shavings  with 
another  grin,  and  throwing  them  into  the  great  stove  in  the 
middle  of  the  room,  he  went  about  his  business,  and  left  me  in 
a  brown  study. 

I  now  took  the  measure  of  the  bench,  and  found  that  it  was 
a  foot  too  short ;  but  that  could  be  mended  with  a  chair.  But 
it  was  a  foot  too  narrow,  and  the  other  bench  in  the  room  was 
about  four  inches  higher  than  the  planed  one — so  there  was  no 
yoking  them.  I  then  placed  the  first  bench  lengthwise  along 
the  only  clear  space  against  the  wall,  leaving  a  little  interval 
between,  for  my  back  to  settle  down  in.  But  I  soon  found  that 
there  came  such  a  draught  of  cold  air  over  me  from  under  the 
sill  of  the  window,  that  this  plan  would  never  do  at  all, 
especially  as  another  current  from  the  rickety  door  met  the 
one  from  the  window,  and  both  together  formed  a  series  of 
small  whirlwinds  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  spot  where  I 
had  thought  to  spend  the  night. 

The  devil  fetch  that  harpooneer,  thought  I,  but  stop,  couldn't 
I  steal  a  march  on  him — bolt  his  door  inside,  and  jump  into 
his  bed,  not  to  be  wakened  by  the  most  violent  knockings  ?  It 
seemed  no  bad  idea ;  but  upon  second  thoughts  I  dismissed  it. 
For  who  could  tell  but  what  the  next  morning,  so  soon  as  I 
popped  out  of  the  room,  the  harpooneer  might  be  standing  in 
the  entry,  all  ready  to  knock  me  down  ! 

Still,  looking  round  me  again,  and  seeing  no  possible  chance 
of  spending  a  sufferable  night  unless  in  some  other  person's  bed, 
I  began  to  think  that  after  all  I  might  be  cherishing  unwarrant- 
able prejudices  against  this  unknown  harpooneer.  Thinks  I, 
I'll  wait  awhile ;  he  must  be  dropping  in  before  long.  I'll  have 
a  good  look  at  him  then,  and  perhaps  we  may  become  jolly 
good  bedfellows  after  all — there's  no  telling. 


THE    SPOUTER-INN.  19 

But  though  the  other  boarders  kept  coming  in  by  ones,  twos, 
and  threes,  and  going  to  bed,  yet  no  sign  of  my  harpooneer. 

"  Landlord  !"  said  I,  "  what  sort  of  a  chap  is  he — does  he 
always  keep  such  late  hours  2"  It  was  now  hard  upon  twelve 
o'clock. 

The  landlord  chuckled  again  with  his  lean  chuckle,  and 
seemed  to  be  mightily  tickled  at  something  beyond  my  com- 
pi-ehension.  "  No,"  he  answered,  "  generally  he's  an  early 
bird — airley  to  bed  and  airley  to  rise — yes,  he's  the  bird  what 
catches  the  worm. — But  to-night  he  went  out  a  peddling,  you 
see,  and  I  don't  see  what  on  airth  keeps  him  so  late,  unless,  may 
be,  he  can't  sell  his  head." 

"  Can't  sell  his  head  ? — What  sort  of  a  bamboozingly  story 
is  this  you  are  telling  me  V  getting  into  a  towering  rage.  "  Do 
you  pretend  to  say,  landlord,  that  this  harpooneer  is  actually 
engaged  this  blessed  Saturday  night,  or  rather  Sunday  morning, 
in  peddling  his  head  around  this  town  ?" 

"  That's  precisely  it,"  said  the  landlord,  "  and  I  told  him  he 
couldn't  sell  it  here,  the  market's  overstocked." 

"  With  what  ?"  shouted  I. 

"  With  heads  to  be  sure  ;  ain't  there  too  many  heads  in  the 
world  ?" 

"  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  landlord,"  said  I,  quite  calmly,  "  you'd 
better  stop  spinning  that  yarn  to  me — I'm  not  green." 

"  May  be  not,"  taking  out  a  stick  and  whittling  a  toothpick, 
a  but  I  rayther  guess  you'll  be  done  brown  if  that  ere  harpoon- 
eer hears  you  a  slanderin'  his  head." 

"  I'll  break  it  for  him,"  said  I,  now  flying  into  a  passion  again 
at  this  unaccountable  farrago  of  the  landlord's. . 

"  It's  broke  a'ready,"  said  he. 

"  Broke,"  said  I — "  broke,  do  you  mean  ? " 

"  Sartain,  and  that's  the  veiy  reason  he  can't  sell  it,  I  guess." 

"  Landlord,"  said  I,  going  up  to  him  as  cool  as  Mt.  Hecla  in 
a  snow  storm, — "landlord,  stop  whittling.     You  and  I  must 


20  THESPOUTER-INN. 

understand  one  another,  and  that  too  without  delay.  I  come 
to  your  house  and  want  a  bed ;  you  tell  me  you  can  only  give 
me  half  a  one,;  that  the  other  half  belongs  to  a  certain  har- 
pooneer.  And  about  this  harpooneer,  whom  I  have  not  yet 
seen,  you  persist  in  telling  me  the  most  mystifying  and  exaspe- 
rating stories,  tending  to  beget  in  me  an  uncomfortable  feeling 
towards  the  man  whom  you  design  for  my  bedfellow — a  sort  of 
connexion,  landlord,  which  is  an  intimate  and  confidential  one 
in  the  highest  degree.  I  now  demand  of  you  to  speak  out  and 
tell  me  who  and  what  this  harpooneer  is,  and  whether  I  shall  be 
in  all  respects  safe  to  spend  the  night  with  him.  And  in  the 
first  place,  you  will  be  so  good  as  to  unsay  that  story  about  sell- 
ing his  head,  which  if  true  I  take  to  be  good  evidence  that  this 
harpooneer  is  stark  mad,  and  I've  no  idea  of  sleeping  with  a 
madman ;  and  you,  sir,  you  I  mean,  landlord,  you,  sir,  by  trying 
to  induce  me  to  do  so  knowingly,  would  thereby  render  yourself 
liable  to  a  criminal  prosecution." 

"  Wall,"  said  the  landlord,  fetching  a  long  breath,  "  that's  a 
purty  long  sarmon  for  a  chap  that  rips  a  little  now  and  then. 
But  be  easy,  be  easy,  this  here  harpooneer  I  have  been  tellin' 
you  of  has  just  arrived  from  the  south  seas,  where  he  bought  up 
a  lot  of  'balmed  New  Zealand  heads  (great  curios,  you  know), 
and  he's  sold  all  on  'em  but  one,  and  that  one  he's  trying  to  sell 
to-night,  cause  to-morrow's  Sunday,  and  it  would  not  do  to  be 
sellin'  human  heads  about  the  streets  when  folks  is  goin'  to 
churches.  He  wanted  to,  last  Sunday,  but  I  stopped  him  just 
as  he  was  goin'  out  of  the  door  with  four  heads  strung  on  a 
string,  for  all  the  airth  like  a  string  of  inions." 

This  account  cleared  up  the  otherwise  unaccountable  mystery, 
and  showed  that  the  landlord,  after  all,  had  had  no  idea  of  fool- 
ing me — but  at  the  same  time  what  could  I  think  of  a  harpoon- 
eer who  stayed  out  of  a  Saturday  night  clean  into  the  holy  Sab- 
bath, engaged  in  such  a  cannibal  business  as  selling  the  heads 
of  dead  idolaters  ? 


THE    SPOUTER-INN.  21 

"  Depend  upon  it,  landlord,  that  harpooneer  is  a  dangerous 
man." 

"  He  pays  reg'lar,"  was  the  rejoinder.  "  But  come,  it's  getting 
dreadful  late,  you  had  better  be  turning  flukes — it's  a  nice  bed : 
Sail  and  me  slept  in  that  ere  bed  the  night  we  were  spliced. 
There's  plenty  room  for  two  to  kick  about  in  that  bed  ;  it's  an 
almighty  big  bed  that.  Why,  afore  we  give  it  up,  Sal  used  to 
put  our  Sam  and  little  Johnny  in  the  foot  of  it.  But  I  got  a 
dreaming  and  sprawling  about  one  night,  and  somehow,  Sam  got 
pitched  on  the  floor,  and  came  near  breaking  his  arm.  Arter 
that,  Sal  said  it  wouldn't  do.  Come  along  here,  I'll  give  ye  a 
glim  in  a  jiffy  ;"  and  so  saying  he  lighted  a  candle  and  held  it 
towards  me,  offering  to  lead  the  way.  But  I  stood  irresolute  ; 
when  looking  at  a  clock  in  the  corner,  he  exclaimed  "  I  vum  it's 
Sunday — you  won't  see  that  harpooneer  to-night ;  he's  come  to 
anchor  somewhere — come  along  then  ;  do  come ;  worCt  ye 
come  ? " 

I  considered  the  matter  a  moment,  and  then  up  stairs  we 
went,  and  I  was  ushered  into  a  small  room,  cold  as  a  clam,  and 
furnished,  sure  enough,  with  a  prodigious  bed,  almost  big 
enough  indeed  for  any  four  harpooneers  to  sleep  abreast. 

"  There,"  said  the  landlord,  placing  the  candle  on  a  crazy 
old  sea  chest  that  did  double  duty  as  a  wash-stand  and  centre 
table ;  "  there,  make  yourself  comfortable  now,  and  good  night 
to  ye."  I  turned  round  from  eyeing  the  bed,  but  he  had  disap- 
peared. 

Folding  back  the  counterpane,  I  stooped  over  the  bed. 
Though  none  of  the  most  elegant,  it  yet  stood  the  scrutiny 
tolerably  well.  I  then  glanced  round  the  room ;  and  besides 
the  bedstead  and  centre  table,  could  see  no  other  furniture  be- 
longing to  the  place,  but  a  rude  shelf,  the  four  walls,  and  a 
papered  fireboard  representing  a  man  striking  a  whale.  Of 
things  not  properly  belonging  to  the  room,  there  was  a  ham- 
mock lashed  up,  and  thrown  upon  the  floor  in  one  corner ;  also 


22  THE    S  POUTER-INN. 

a  large  seaman's  bag,  containing  the  harpooneer's  wardrobe,  no 
doubt  in  lieu  of  a  land  trunk.  Likewise,  there  was  a  parcel  of 
outlandish  bone  fish  hooks  on  the  shelf  over  the  fire-place,  and 
a  tall  harpoon  standing  at  the  head  of  the  bed. 

But  what  is  this  on  the  chest  ?  I  took  it  up,  and  held  it 
close  to  the  light,  and  felt  it,  and  smelt  it,  and  tried  every 
way  possible  to  arrive  at  some  satisfactory  conclusion  concern- 
ing if.  I  can  compare  it  to  nothing  but  a  large  door  mat, 
ornamented  at  the  edges  with  little  tinkling  tags  something  like 
the  stained  porcupine  quills  round  an  Indian  moccasin.  There 
was  a  hole  or  slit  in  the  middle  of  this  mat,  as  you  see  the  same 
in  South  American  ponchos.  But  could  it  be  possible  that  any 
sober  harpooneer  would  get  into  a  door  mat,  and  parade  the 
streets  of  any  Christian  town  in  that  sort  of  guise  ?  I  put  it  on, 
to  try  it,  and  it  weighed  me  down  like  a  hamper,  being  uncom- 
monly shaggy  and  thick,  and  I  thought  a  little  damp,  as  though 
this  mysterious  harpooneer  had  been  wearing  it  of  a  rainy  day. 
I  went  up  in  it  to  a  bit  of  glass  stuck  against  the  wall,  and  I  never 
saw  such  a  sight  in  my  life.  I  tore  myself  out  of  it  in  such  a 
hurry  that  I  gave  myself  a  kink  in  the  neck. 

I  sat  down  on  the  side  of  the  bed,  and  commenced  thinking 
about  this  head-peddling  harpooneer,  and  his  door  mat.  After 
thinking  some  time  on  the  bed-side,  I  got  up  and  took  off  my 
monkey  jacket,  and  then  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  room  think- 
ing. I  then  took  off  my  coat,  and  thought  a  little  more  in  my 
shirt  sleeves.  But  beginning  to  feel  very  cold  now,  half  un- 
dressed as  I  was,  and  remembering  what  the  landlord  said 
about  the  harpooneer's  not  coming  home  at  all  that  night,  it  being 
so  very  late,  I  made  no  more  ado,  but  jumped  out  of  my  panta- 
loons and  boots,  and  then  blowing  out  the  light  tumbled  into 
bed,  and  commended  myself  to  the  care  of  heaven. 

Whether  that  mattress  was  stuffed  with  corn-cobs  or  broken 
crockery,  there  is  no  telling,  but  I  rolled  about  a  good  deal,  and 
could  not  sleep  for  a  long  time.     At  last  I  slid  off  into  a  light 


THE    SP0UTER-1NN.  23 

doze,  and  had  pretty  nearly  made  a  good  offing  towards  the  land 
of  Nod,  when  I  heard  a  heavy  footfall  in  the  passage,  and  saw 
a  glimmer  of  light  come  into  the  room  from  under  the  door. 

Lord  save  me,  thinks  I,  that  must  be  the  harpooneer, 
the  infernal  head-peddler.  But  I  lay  perfectly  still,  and 
resolved  not  to  say  a  word  till  spoken  to.  Holding  a  light 
in  one  hand,  and  that  identical  JSTew  Zealand  head  in  the 
other,  the  stranger  entered  the  room,  and  without  looking 
towards  the  bed,  placed  his  candle  a  good  way  off  from  me  on 
the  floor  in  one  corner,  and  then  began  working  away  at  the 
knotted  cords  of  the  large  bag  I  before  spoke  of  as  being  in  the 
room.  I  was  all  eagerness  to  see  his  face,  but  he  kept  it 
averted  for  some  time  while  employed  in  unlacing  the  bag's 
mouth.  This  accomplished,  however,  he  turned  round — when, 
good  heavens !  what  a  sight !  Such  a  face !  It  was  of  a  dark, 
purplish,  yellow  color,  here  and  there  stuck  over  with  large, 
blackish  looking  squares.  Yes,  it's  just  as  I  thought,  he's  a 
terrible  bedfellow  ;  he's  been  in  a  fight,  got  dreadfully  cut,  and 
here  he  is,  just  from  the  surgeon.  But  at  that  moment  he 
chanced  to  turn  his  face  so  towards  the  light,  that  I  plainly  saw 
they  could  not  be  sticking-plasters  at  all,  those  black  squares  on 
his  cheeks.  They  were  stains  of  some  sort  or  other.  At  first 
I  knew  not  what  to  make  of  this  ;  but  soon  an  inkling  of  the 
truth  occurred  to  me.  I  remembered  a  story  of  a  white  man 
— a  whaleman  too — who,  falling  among  the  cannibals,  had  been 
tattooed  by  them.  I  concluded  that  this  harpooneer,  in  the 
course  of  his  distant  voyages,  must  have  met  with  a  similar 
adventure.  And  what  is  it,  thought  I,  after  all !  It's  only  his 
outside  ;  a  man  can  be  honest  in  any  sort  of  skin.  But  then, 
what  to  make  of  his  unearthly  complexion,  that  part  of  it,  I 
mean,  lying  round  about,  and  completely  independent  of  the 
squares  of  tattooing.  To  be  sure,  it  might  be  nothing  but  a 
good  coat  of  tropical  tanning ;  but  I  never  heard  of  a  hot  sun's 
tanning  a  white  man  into  a  purplish  yellow  one.     However,  I 


24  THE    SP  OUTER-INN/ 

had  never  been  in  the  South  Seas ;  and  perhaps  the  sun  there 
produced  these  extraordinary  effects  upon  the  skin.  Now,  while 
all  these  ideas  were  passing  through  me  like  lightning,  this  har- 
pooneer  never  noticed  me  at  all.  But,  after  some  difficulty 
having  opened  his  bag,  he  commenced  fumbling  in  it,  and  pre- 
sently pulled  out  a  sort  of  tomahawk,  and  a  seal-skin  wallet 
with  the  hair  on.  Placing  these  on  the  old  chest  in  the  middle 
of  the  room,  he  then  took  the  New  Zealand  head — a  ghastly 
thing  enough — and  crammed  it  down  into  the  bag.  He  now 
took  off  his  hat — a  new  beaver  hat — when  I  came  nigh  singing 
out  with  fresh  surprise.  There  was  no  hair  on  his  head — none 
to  speak  of  at  least — nothing  but  a  small  scalp-knot  twisted  up 
on  his  forehead.  His  bald  purplish  head  now  looked  for  all 
the  world  like  a  mildewed  skull.  Had  not  the  stranger  stood 
between  me  and  the  door,  I  would  have  bolted  out  of  it  quicker 
than  ever  I  bolted  a  dinner. 

Even  as  it  was,  I  thought  something  of  slipping  out  of  the 
window,  but  it  was  the  second  floor  back.  I  am  no  coward, 
but  what  to  make  of  this  head-peddling  purple  rascal  altogether 
passed  my  comprehension.  Ignorance  is  the  parent  of  fear,  and 
being  completely  nonplussed  and  confounded  about  the  stranger, 
I  confess  I  was  now  as  much  afraid  of  him  as  if  it  was  the  devil 
himself  who  had  thus  broken  into  my  room  at  the  dead  of 
night.  In  fact,  I  was  so  afraid  of  him  that  I  was  not  game 
enough  just  then  to  address  him,  and  demand  a  satisfactory 
answer  concerning  what  seemed  inexplicable  in  him. 

Meanwhile,  he  continued  the  business  of  undressing,  and  at 
last  showed  his  chest  and  arms.  As  I  live,  these  covered  parts 
of  him  were  checkered  with  the  same  squares  as  his  face  ;  his 
back,  too,  was  all  over  the  same  dark  squares ;  he  seemed  to 
have  been  in  a  Thirty  Years'  War,  and  just  escaped  from  it  with 
a  sticking-plaster  shirt.  Still  more,  his  very  legs  were  marked, 
as  if  a  parcel  of  dark  green  frogs  were  running  up  the  trunks 
of  young  palms.     It  was  now  quite  plain  that  he  must  be  some 


THE    SPOUTER-INN.  25 

abominable  savage  or  other  shipped  aboard  of  a  whaleman  in 
the  South  Seas,  and  so  landed  in  this  Christian  countiy.  I 
quaked  to  think  of  it.  A  peddler  of  heads  too — perhaps  the 
heads  of  his  own  brothers.  He  might  take  a  fancy  to  mine — 
heavens  !  look  at  that  tomahawk  ! 

But  there  was  no  time  for  shuddering,  for  now  the  savage 
went  about  something  that  completely  fascinated  my  attention, 
and  convinced  me  that  he  must  indeed  be  a  heathen.  Going 
to  his  heavy  grego,  or  wrapall,  or  dreadnaught,  which  he  had 
previously  hung  on  a  chair,  he  fumbled  in  the  pockets,  and  pro- 
duced at  length  a  curious  little  deformed  image  with  a  hu  nch 
on  its  back,  and  exactly  the  color  of  a  three  days'  old  Congo 
baby.  Remembering  the  embalmed  head,  at  first  I  almost 
thought  that  this  black  manikin  was  a  real  baby  preserved 
in  some  similar  manner.  But  seeing  that  it  was  not  at  all 
limber,  and  that  it  glistened  a  good  deal  like  polished  ebony,  I 
concluded  that  it  must  be  nothing  but  a  wooden  idol,  which 
indeed  it  proved  to  be.  For  now  the  savage  goes  up  to  the 
empty  fire-place,  and  removing-  the  papered  fire-board,  sets  up 
this  little  hunchbacked  image,  like  a  tenpin,  between  the 
andirons.  The  chimney  jambs  and  all  the  bricks  inside  were 
very  sooty,  so  that  I  thought  this  fire-place  made  a  very  appro- 
priate little  shrine  or  chapel  for  his  Congo  idol. 

I  now  screwed  my  eyes  hard  towards  the  half  hidden  image, 
feeling  but  ill  at  ease  meantime — to  see  what  was  next  to 
follow.  First  he  takes  about  a  double  handful  of  shavings  out 
of  his  grego  pocket,  and  places  them  carefully  before  the  idol ; 
then  laying  a  bit  of  ship  biscuit  on  top  and  applying  the  flame 
from  the  lamp,  he  kindled  the  shavings  into  a  sacrificial  blaze. 
Presently,  after  many  hasty  snatches  into  the  fire,  and  still 
hastier  withdrawals  of  his  fingers  (whereby  he  seemed  to  be 
scorching  them  badly),  he  at  last  succeeded  in  drawing  out  the 
biscuit ;  then  blowing  off  the  heat  and  ashes  a  little,  he  made  a 
polite  offer  of  it  to  the  little  negro.    But  the  little  devil  did  not 

2 


26  THE    SPOUTER-INN. 

seem  to  fancy  such  dry  sort  of  fare  at  all ;  he  never  moved  his 
lips.  All  these  strange  antics  were  accompanied  by  still 
stranger  guttural  noises  from  the  devotee,  who  seemed  to  be 
praying  in  a  sing-song  or  else  singing  some  pagan  psalmody  or 
other,  during  which  his  face  twitched  about  in  the  most 
unnatural  manner.  At  last  extinguishing  the  fire,  he  took  the 
idol  up  very  unceremoniously,  and  bagged  it  again  in  his  grego 
pocket  as  carelessly  as  if  he  were  a  sportsman  bagging  a  dead 
woodcock. 

All  these  queer  proceedings  increased  my  uncomfortableness, 
and  seeing  him  now  exhibiting  strong  symptoms  of  concluding 
his  business  operations,  and  jumping  into  bed  with  me,  I 
thought  it  was  high  time,  now  or  never,  before  the  tight  was  put 
out,  to  break  the  spell  in  which  I  had  so  long  been  bound. 

But  the  interval  I  spent  in  deliberating  what  to  say,  was  a 
fatal  one.  Taking  up  his  tomahawk  from  the  table,  he 
examined  the  head  of  it  for  an  instant,  and  then  holding  it  to 
the  light,  with  his  mouth  at  the  handle,  he  puffed  out  great 
clouds  of  tobacco  smoke.  The  next  moment  the  light  was 
extinguished,  and  this  wild  cannibal,  tomahawk  between  his 
teeth,  sprang  into  bed  with  me.  I  sang  out,  I  could  not  help 
it  now ;  and  giving  a  sudden  grunt  of  astonishment  he  began 
feeling  me. 

Stammering  out  something,  I  knew  not  what,  I  rolled  away 
from  him  against  the  wall,  and  then  conjured  him,  whoever  or 
whatever  he  might  be,  to  keep  quiet,  and  let  me  get  up  and 
light  the  lamp  again.  But  his  guttural  responses  satisfied  me 
at  once  that  he  but  ill  comprehended  my  meaning. 

"  Who-e  debel  you  ?" — he  at  last  said — "  you  no  speak-e, 
dam-me,  I  kill-e."  And  so  saying  the  lighted  tomahawk  began 
flourishing  about  me  in  the  dark. 

"  Landlord,  for  God's  sake,  Peter  Coffin !"  shouted  I.  "  Land- 
lord !    Watch  !     Coffin !    Angels  !  save  me !" 

"  Speak-e  !  tell-ee  me  who-ee  be,  or  dam-me,  I  kill-e !"  again 


THESPOUTER-INN.  27 

growled  the  cannibal,  while  his  horrid  flourishings  of  the 
tomahawk  scattered  the  hot  tobacco  ashes  about  me  till  I 
thought  my  linen  would  get  on  fire.  But  thank  heaven,  at 
that  moment  the  landlord  came  into  the  room  light  in  hand, 
and  leaping  from  the  bed  I  ran  up  to  him. 

"  Don't  be  afraid  now,"  said  he,  grinning  again.  "  Queequeg 
here  wouldn't  harm  a  hair  of  your  head." 

"  Stop  your  grinning,"  shouted  I,  "  and  why  didn't  you  tell 
me  that  that  infernal  harpooneer  was  a  cannibal  ?'' 

"  I  thought  ye  know'd  it ; — didn't  I  tell  ye,  he  was  a  peddlin' 
heads  around  town  ? — but  turn  flukes  again  and  go  to  sleep. 
Queequeg,  look  here — you  sabbee  me,  I  sabbee  you — this  man 
sleepe  you — you  sabbee  ?" — 

"  Me  sabbee  plenty" — grunted  Queequeg,  puffing  away  at  his 
pipe  and  sitting  up  in  bed. 

"  You  gettee  in,"  he  added,  motioning  to  me  with  his  toma- 
hawk, and  throwing  the  clothes  to  one  side.  He  really  did  this 
in  not  only  a  civil  but  a  really  kind  and  charitable  way.  I 
stood  looking  at  him  a  moment.  For  all  his  tattooings  he  was 
on  the  whole  a  clean,  comely  looking  cannibal.  What's  all  this 
fuss  I  have  been  making  about,  thought  I  to  myself — the  man's 
a  human  being  just  as  I  am  :  he  has  just  as  much  reason  to 
fear  me,  as  I  have  to  be  afraid  of  him.  Better  sleep  with  a 
sober  cannibal  than  a  drunken  Christian. 

"  Landlord,"  said  I,  "  tell  him  to  stash  his  tomahawk  there, 
or  pipe,  or  whatever  you  call  it ;  tell  him  to  stop  smoking,  in 
short,  and  I  will  turn  in  with  him.  But  I  don't  fancy  having  a 
man  smoking  in  bed  with  me.  It's  dangerous.  Besides,  I  aint 
insured." 

This  being  told  to  Queequeg,  he  at  once  complied,  and  again 
politely  motioned  me  to  get  into  bed — rolling  over  to  one  side 
as  much  as  to  say — I  wont  touch  a  leg  of  ye. 

"  Good  night,  landlord,"  said  I,  "  you  may  go." 

I  turned  in,  and  never  slept  better  in  my  life. 


28  THE    COUNTERPANE. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE    COUNTERPANE. 

Upon  waking  next  morning  about  daylight,  I  found  Quee- 
queg's  arm  thrown  over  me  in  the  most  loving  and  affectionate 
manner.  You  had  almost  thought  I  had  been  his  wife.  The 
counterpane  was  of  patchwork,  full  of  odd  little  parti-colored 
squares  and  triangles  ;  and  this  arm  of  his  tattooed  all  over  with 
an  interminable  Cretan  labyrinth  of  a  figure,  no  two  parts  of 
which  were  of  one  precise  shade — owing  I  suppose  to  his  keep- 
ing his  arm  at  sea  unmethodically  in  sun  and  shade,  his  shirt 
sleeves  irregularly  rolled  up  at  various  times — this  same  arm  of 
his,  I  say,  looked  for  all  the  world  like  a  strip  of  that  same 
patchwork  quilt.  Indeed,  partly  lying  on  it  as  the  arm  did 
when  I  first  awoke,  I  could  hardly  tell  it  from  the  quilt,  they 
so  blended  their  hues  together ;  and  it  was  only  by  the  sense 
of  weight  and  pressure  that  I  could  tell  that  Queequeg  was 
hugging  me. 

My  sensations  were  strange.  Let  me  try  to  explain  them. 
When  I  was  a  child,  I  well  remember  a  somewhat  similar  cir- 
cumstance that  befell  me  ;  whether  it  was  a  reality  or  a  dream, 
I  never  could  entirely  settle.  The  circumstance  was  this.  I 
had  been  cutting  up  some  caper  or  other — I  think  it  was 
trying  to  crawl  up  the  chimney,  as  I  had  seen  a  little  sweep  do 
a  few  days  previous ;  and  my  stepmother  who,  somehow  or 
other,  was  all  the  time  whipping  me,  or  sending  me  to  bed 
supperless, — my  mother  dragged  me  by  the  legs  out  of  the 
chimney  and  packed  me  off  to  bed,  though  it  was  only  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  21st  June,  the  longest  day  in 
the  year  in  our  hemisphere.  I  felt  dreadfully.  But  there  was 
no  help  for  it,  so  up  stairs  I  went  to  my  little  room  in  the  third 


THE    COUNTERPANE.  29 

floor,  undressed  myself  as  slowly  as  possible  so  as  to  kill  time, 
and  with  a  bitter  sigb  got  between  the  sheets. 

I  lay  there  dismally  calculating  that  sixteen  entire  hours  must 
elapse  before  I  could  hope  for  a  resurrection.  Sixteen  hours  in 
bed  !  the  small  of  my  back  ached  to  think  of  it.  And  it  was 
so  light  too ;  the  sun  shining  in  at  the  window,  and  a  great 
rattling  of  coaches  in  the  streets,  and  the  sound  of  gay  voices 
all  over  the  house.  I  felt  worse  and  worse — at  last  I  got  up, 
dressed,  and  softly  going  down  in  my  stockinged  feet,  sought  out 
my  stepmother,  and  suddenly  threw  myself  at  her  feet,  beseech- 
ing her  as  a  particular  favor  to  give  me  a  good  slippering  for 
my  misbehavior ;  anything  indeed  but  condemning  me  to  he  abed 
such  an  unendurable  length  of  time.  But  she  was  the  best  and 
most  conscientious  of  stepmothers,  and  back  I  had  to  go  to  my 
room.  For  several  hours  I  lay  there  broad  awake,  feeling  a 
great  deal  worse  than  I  have  ever  done  since,  even  from  the 
greatest  subsequent  misfortunes.  At  last  I  must  have  fallen 
into  a  troubled  nightmare  of  a  doze ;  and  slowly  waking  from 
it — half  steeped  in  dreams — I  opened  my  eyes,  and  the  before 
sun-lit  room  was  now  wrapped  in  outer  darkness.  Instantly  I 
felt  a  shock  running  through  all  my  frame  ;  nothing  was  to  be 
seen,  and  nothing  was  to  be  heard ;  but  a  supernatural  hand 
seemed  placed  in  mine.  My  arm  hung  over  the  counterpane, 
and  the  nameless,  unimaginable,  silent  form  or  phantom,  to 
which  the  hand  belonged,  seemed  closely  seated  by  my  bed- 
side. For  what  seemed  ages  piled  on  ages,  I  lay  there,  frozen 
with  the  most  awful  fears,  not  daring  to  drag  away  my  hand ; 
yet  ever  thinking  that  if  I  could  but  stir  it  one  single  inch,  the 
horrid  spell  would  be  broken.  I  knew  not  how  this  conscious- 
ness at  last  glided  away  from  me ;  but  waking  in  the  morning, 
I  shudderingly  remembered  it  all,  and  for  days  and  weeks  and 
months  afterwards  I  lost  myself  in  confounding  attempts  to 
explain  the  mystery.  Nay,  to  this  very  hour,  I  often  puzzle 
myself  with  it. 


30  THE    COUNTERPANE. 

Now,  take  away  the  awful  fear,  and  my  sensations  at  feeling 
the  supernatural  hand  in  mine  were  very  similar,  in  their  strange- 
ness, to  those  which  I  experienced  on  waking  up  and  seeing 
Queequeg's  pagan  arm  thrown  round  me.  But  at  length  all 
the  past  night's  events  soberly  recurred,  one  by  one,  in  fixed 
reality,  and  then  I  lay  only  alive  to  the  comical  predicament. 
For  though  I  tried  to  move  his  arm — unlock  his  bridegroom 
clasp — yet,  sleeping  as  he  was,  he  still  hugged  me  tightly,  as 
though  naught  but  death  should  part  us  twain.  I  now  strove  to 
rouse  him — "  Queequeg  !" — but  his  only  answer  was  a  snore.  I 
then  rolled  over,  my  neck  feeling  as  if  it  were  in  a  horse-collar ; 
and  suddenly  felt  a  slight  scratch.  Throwing  aside  the  counter- 
pane, there  lay  the  tomahawk  sleeping  by  the  savage's  side,  as 
if  it  were  a  hatchet- faced  baby.  A  pretty  pickle,  truly,  thought 
I ;  abed  here  in  a  strange  house  in  the  broad  day,  with  a  canni- 
bal and  a  tomahawk !  "  Queequeg ! — in  the  name  of  goodness, 
Queequeg,  wake ! "  At  length,  by  dint  of  much  wriggling,  and 
loud  and  incessant  expostulations  upon  the  unbecomingness  of 
his  hugging  a  fellow  male  in  that  matrimonial  sort  of  style,  I 
succeeded  in  extracting  a  grunt ;  and  presently,  he  drew  back  his 
arm,  shook  himself  all  over  like  a  Newfoundland  dog  just  from 
the  water,  and  sat  up  in  bed,  stiff  as  a  pike-staff,  looking  at  me, 
and  rubbing  his  eyes  as  if  he  did  not  altogether  remember  how 
I  came  to  be  there,  though  a  dim  consciousness  of  knowing 
something  about  me  seemed  slowly  dawning  over  him.  Mean- 
while, I  lay  quietly  eyeing  him,  having  no  serious  misgivings 
now,  and  bent  upon  narrowly  observing  so  curious  a  creature. 
When,  at  last,  his  mind  seemed  made  up  touching  the  character  of 
his  bedfellow,  and  he  became,  as  it  were,  reconciled  to  the  fact ; 
he  jumped  out  upon  the  floor,  and  by  certain  signs  and  sounds 
gave  me  to  understand  that,  if  it  pleased  me,  he  would  dress  first 
and  then  leave  me  to  dress  afterwards,  leaving  the  whole  apart- 
ment to  myself.  Thinks  I,  Queequeg,  under  the  circumstances, 
this  is  a  very  civilized  overture ;  but,  the  truth  is,  these  savages 


THE    COUNTERPANE.  31 

have  an  innate  sense  of  delicacy,  say  what  you  will ;  it  is  mar- 
vellous how  essentially  polite  they  are.  I  pay  this  particular 
compliment  to  Queequeg,  because  he  treated  me  with  so  much 
civility  and  consideration,  while  I  was  guilty  of  great  rudeness ; 
staling  at  him  from  the  bed,  and  watching  all  his  toilette  mo- 
tions ;  for  the  time  my  curiosity  getting  the  better  of  my  breed- 
ing. Nevertheless,  a  man  like  Queequeg  you  don't  see  every 
day,  he  and  his  ways  were  well  worth  unusual  regarding. 

He  commenced  dressing  at  top  by  donning  his  beaver  hat,  a 
very  tall  one,  by  the  by,  and  then — still  minus  his  trowsers — he 
hunted  up  his  boots.  What  under  the  heavens  he  did  it  for,  I 
cannot  tell,  but  his  next  movement  was  to  crush  himself — boots 
in  hand,  and  hat  on — under  the  bed ;  when,  from  sundry  violent 
gaspings  and  strainings,  I  inferred  he  was  hard  at  work  booting 
himself;  though  by  no  law  of  propriety  that  I  ever  heard  of,  is 
any  man  required  to  be  private  when  putting  on  his  boots.  But 
Queequeg,  do  you  see,  was  a  creature  in  the  transition  state — 
neither  caterpillar  nor  butterfly.  He  was  just  enough  civilized 
to  show  off  his  outlandishness  in  the  strangest  possible  manner. 
His  education  was  not  yet  completed.  He  was  an  undergradu- 
ate. If  he  had  not  been  a  small  degree  civilized,  he  very  pro- 
bably would  not  have  troubled  himself  with  boots  at  all ;  but 
then,  if  he  had  not  been  still  a  savage,  he  never  would  have 
dreamt  of  getting  under  the  bed  to  put  them  on.  At  last,  he 
emerged  with  his  hat  very  much  dented  and  crushed  down  over 
his  eyes,  and  began  creaking  and  limping  about  the  room,  as  if, 
not  being  much  accustomed  to  boots,  his  pair  of  damp,  wrinkled 
cowhide  ones — probably  not  made  to  order  either — rather 
pinched  and  tormented  him  at  the  first  go  off  of  a  bitter  cold 
morning. 

Seeing,  now,  that  there  were  no  curtains  to  the  window,  and 
that  the  street  being  very  narrow,  the  house  opposite  commanded 
a  plain  view  into  the  room,  and  observing  more  and  more  the 
indecorous  figure  that  Queequeg  made,  staving  about  with  little 


32  BREAKFAST 


else  but  his  hat  and  boots  on ;  I  begged  him  as  well  as  I  could, 
to  accelerate  his  toilet  somewhat,  and  particularly  to  get  into  his 
pantaloons  as  soon  as  possible.  He  complied,  and  then  pro- 
ceeded to  wash  himself.  At  that  time  in  the  morning  any- 
Christian  would  have  washed  his  face ;  but  Queequeg,  to  my 
amazement,  contented  himself  with  restricting  his  ablutions  to 
his  chest,  arms,  and  hands.  He  then  donned  his  waistcoat,  and 
taking  up  a  piece  of  hard  soap  on  the  wash-stand  centre-table, 
dipped  it  into  water  and  commenced  lathering  his  face.  I  was 
watching  to  see  where  he  kept  his  razor,  when  lo  and  behold,  he 
takes  the  harpoon  from  the^tfed  corner,  slips  out  the  long  wooden 
stock,  unsheathes  the  head,  whets  it  a  little  on  his  boot,  and 
striding  up  to  the  bit  of  mirror  against  the  wall,  begins  a  vigor- 
ous scraping,  or  rather  harpooning  of  his  cheeks.  Thinks  I, 
Queequeg,  this  is  using  Rogers's  best  cutlery  with  a  vengeance. 
Afterwards  I  wondered  the  less  at  this  operation  when  I  came  to 
know  of  what  fine  steel  the  head  of  a  harpoon  is  made,  and  how 
exceedingly  sharp  the  long  straight  edges  are  always  kept. 

The  rest  of  his  toilet  was  soon  achieved,  and  he  proudly 
marched  out  of  the  room,  wrapped  up  in  his  great  pilot  monkey 
jacket,  and  sporting  his  harpoon  like  a  marshal's  baton. 


CHAPTER  V. 

BREAKFAST. 


I  quickly  followed  suit,  and  descending  into  the  bar-room 
accosted  the  grinning  landlord  very  pleasantly.  I  cherished  no 
malice  towards  him,  though  he  had  been  skylarking  with  me  not 
a  little  in  the  matter  of  my  bedfellow. 

However,  a  good  laugh  is  a  mighty  good  thing,  and  rather 
too  scarce  a  good  thing ;  the  more's  the  pity.    So,  if  any  one 


BREAKFAST.  33 


man,  in  his  own  proper  person,  afford  stuff  for  a  good  joke  to 
anybody,  let  him  not  be  backward,  but  let  him  cheerfully  allow 
himself  to  spend  and  be  spent  in  that  way.  And  the  man  that 
has  anything  bountifully  laughable  about  him,  be  sure  there  is 
more  in  that  man  than  you  perhaps  think  for. 

The  bar-room  was  now  full  of  the  boarders  who  had  been 
dropping  in,  the  night  previous,  and  whom  I  had  not  as  yet  had 
a  good  look  at.  They  were  nearly  all  whalemen ;  chief  mates, 
and  second  mates,  and  third  mates,  and  sea  carpenters,  and  sea 
coopers,  and  sea  blacksmiths,  and  harpooneers,  and  ship  keep- 
ers ;  a  brown  and  brawny  company,  with  bosky  beards ;  an 
unshorn,  shaggy  set,  all  wearing  monkey  jackets  for  morning 
gowns. 

You  could  pretty  plainly  tell  how  long  each  one  had  been 
ashore.  This  young  fellow's  healthy  cheek  is  like  a  sun-toasted 
pear  in  hue,  and  would  seem  to  smell  almost  as  musky ;  he  can- 
not have  been  three  days  landed  from  his  Indian  voyage.  That 
man  next  him  looks  a  few  shades  lighter ;  you  might  say  a 
touch  of  satin  wood  is  in  him.  In  the  complexion  of  a  third 
still  lingers  a  tropic  tawn,  but  slightly  bleached  withal;  he 
doubtless  has  tamed  whole  weeks  ashore.  But  who  could  show 
a  cheek  like  Queequeg  ?  which,  barred  with  various  tints,  seemed 
like  the  Andes'  western  slope,  to  show  forth  in  one  array,  con- 
trasting climates,  zone  by  zone. 

"  Grub,  ho  ! "  now  cried  the  landlord,  flinging  open  a  door, 
and  in  we  went  to  breakfast. 

They  say  that  men  who  have  seen  the  world,  thereby  become 
quite  at  ease  in  manner,  quite  self-possessed  in  company.  Not 
always,  though :  Ledyard,  the  great  New  England  traveller,  and 
Mungo  Park,  the  Scotch  one ;  of  all  men,  they  possessed  the 
least  assurance  in  the  parlor.  But  perhaps  the  mere  crossing  of 
Siberia  in  a  sledge  drawn  by  dogs  as  Ledyard  did,  or  the  taking 
a  long  solitary  walk  on  an  empty  stomach,  in  the  negro  heart 
of  Africa,  which  was  the  sum  of  poor  Mungo's  performances — 

o* 

it 


34  BREAKFAST. 


this  kind  of  travel,  I  say,  may  not  be  the  very  best  mode  of 
attaining  a  high  social  polish.  Still,  for  the  most  part,  that  sort 
of  thing  is  to  be  had  anywhere. 

These  reflections  iust  here  are  occasioned  by  the  circumstance 
that  after  we  were  all  seated  at  the  table,  and  I  was  preparing 
to  hear  some  good  stories  about  whaling ;  to  my  no  small  sur- 
prise, nearly  every  man  maintained  a  profound  silence.  And 
not  only  that.,  but  they  looked  embarrassed.  Yes,  here  were  a 
set  of  sea-dogs,  many  of  whom  without  the  slightest  bashfulness 
had  boarded  great  whales  on  the  high  seas — entire  strangers  to 
them — and  duelled  them  dead  without  winking ;  and  yet,  here 
they  sat  at  a  social  breakfast  table — all  of  the  same  calling,  all  of 
kindred  tastes — looking  round  as  sheepishly  at  each  other  as 
though  they  had  never  been  out  of  sight  of  some  sheepfold 
among  the  Green  Mountains.  A  curious  sight ;  these  bashful 
bears,  these  timid  warrior  whalemen  ! 

But  as  for  Queequeg — why,  Queequeg  sat  there  among 
them — at  the  head  of  the  table,  too,  it  so  chanced ;  as  cool  as 
an  icicle.  To  be  sure  I  cannot  say  much  for  his  breeding.  His 
greatest  admirer  could  not  have  cordially  justified  his  bringing 
his  harpoon  into  breakfast  with  him,  and  using  it  there  without 
ceremony ;  reaching  over  the  table  with  it,  to  the  imminent 
jeopardy  of  many  heads,  and  grappling  the  beefsteaks  towards 
him.  But  that  was  certainly  very  coolly  done  by  him,  and  every 
one  knows  that  in  most  people's  estimation,  to  do  anything 
coolly  is  to  do  it  genteelly. 

We  will  not  speak  of  all  Queequeg's  peculiarities  here ;  how 
he  eschewed  coffee  and  hot  rolls,  and  applied  his  undivided 
attention  to  beefsteaks,  done  rare.  Enough,  that  when  break- 
fast was  over  he  withdrew  like  the  rest  into  the  public  room, 
lighted  his  tomahawk-pipe,  and  was  sitting  there  quietly  digest- 
ing and  smoking  with  his  inseparable  hat  on,  when  I  sallied 
out  for  a  stroll. 


THE    STREET.  35 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  STREET. 

If  I  had  been  astonished  at  first  catching  a  glimpse  of  so 
outlandish  an  individual  as  Queequeg  circulating  among  the 
polite  society  of  a  civilized  town,  that  astonishment  soon 
departed  upon  taking  my  first  daylight  stroll  through  the 
streets  of  New  Bedford. 

In  thoroughfares  nigh  the  docks,  any  considerable  seaport 
will  frequently  offer  to  view  the  queerest  looking  nondescripts 
from  foreign  parts.  Even  in  Broadway  and  Chestnut  streets, 
Mediterranean  mariners  will  sometimes  jostle  the  affrighted 
ladies.  Regent  street  is  not  unknown  to  Lascars  and  Malays ; 
and  at  Bombay,  in  the  Apollo  Green,  live  Yankees  have  often 
scared  the  natives.  But  New  Bedford  beats  all  Water  street 
and  Wapping.  In  these  last-mentioned  haunts  you  see  only 
sailors  ;  but  in  New  Bedford,  actual  cannibals  stand  chatting  at 
street  corners ;  savages  outright ;  many  of  whom  yet  carry  on 
their  bones  unholy  flesh.     It  makes  a  stranger  stare. 

But,  besides  the  Feegeeans,  Tongatabooarrs,  Erromanggoans, 
Pannangians,  and  Brighggians,  and,  besides  the  wild  specimens 
of  the  whaling-craft  which  unheeded  reel  about  the  streets,  you 
will  see  other  sights  still  more  curious,  certainly  more  comical. 
There  weekly  arrive  in  this  town  scores  of  green  Vermonters  and 
New  Hampshire  men,  all  athirst  for  gain  and  glory  in  the 
fishery.  They  are  mostly  young,  of  stalwart  frames;  fellows 
who  have  felled  forests,  and  now  seek  to  drop  the  axe  and 
snatch  the  whale-lance.  Many  are  as  green  as  the  Green 
Mountains  whence  they  came.  In  some  things  you  would 
think  them  but  a  few  hours  old.  Look  there !  that  chap  strut- 
ting round  the  corner.     He  wears  a  beaver  hat  and  swallow- 


36  THE    STREET. 


tailed  coat,  girdled  with  a  sailor-belt  and  sheath-knife.  Here 
comes  another  with  a  sou'-wester  and  a  bombazine  cloak. 

No  town-bred  dandy  will  compare  with  a  country-bred  one — 
I  mean  a  downright  bumpkin  dandy — a  fellow  that,  in  the 
dog-days,  will  mow  his  two  acres  in  buckskin  gloves  for  fear  of 
tanning  his  hands.  Now  when  a  country  dandy  like  this  takes 
it  into  his  head  to  make  a  distinguished  reputation,  and  joins 
the  great  whale-fishery,  you  should  see  the  comical  things  he 
does  upon  reaching  the  seaport.  In  bespeaking  his  sea-outfit, 
he  orders  bell-buttons  to  his  waistcoats;  straps  to  his  canvas 
trowsers.  Ah,  poor  Hay-Seed !  how  bitterly  will  burst  those 
straps  in  the  first  howling  gale,  when  thou  art  driven,  straps, 
buttons,  and  all,  down  the  throat  of  the  tempest. 

But  think  not  that  this  famous  town  has  only  harpooneers, 
cannibals,  and  bumpkins  to  show  her  visitors.  Not  at  all.  Still 
New  Bedford  is  a  queer  place.  Had  it  not  been  for  us  whale- 
men, that  tract  of  land  would  this  day  perhaps  have  been  in  as 
howling  condition  as  the  coast  of  Labrador.  As  it  is,  parts  of 
her  back  country  are  enough  to  frighten  one,  they  look  so  bony. 
The  town  itself  is  perhaps  the  dearest  place  to  live  in,  in  all 
New  England.  It  is  a  land  of  oil,  true  enough :  but  not  like 
Canaan ;  a  land,  also,  of  corn  and  wine.  The  streets  do  not 
run  with  milk ;  nor  in  the  spring-time  do  they  pave  them  with 
fresh  eggs.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  nowhere  in  all  America  will 
you  find  more  patrician-like  houses ;  parks  and  gardens  more 
opulent,  than  in  New  Bedford.  Whence  came  they?  how 
planted  upon  this  once  scraggy  scoria  of  a  country  ? 

Go  and  gaze  upon  the  iron  emblematical  harpoons  round 
yonder  lofty  mansion,  and  your  question  will  be  answered. 
Yes  ;  all  these  brave  houses  and  flowery  gardens  came  from  the 
Atlantic,  Pacific,  and  Indian  oceans.  One  and  all,  they  were 
harpooned  and  dragged  up  hither  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 
Can  Herr  Alexander  perform  a  feat  like  that  ? 

In  New  Bedford,  fathers,  they  say,  give  whales  for  dowers  to 


BLUE.  37 

their  daughters,  and  portion  off  their  nieces  with  a  few  porpoises 
a-piece.  You  must  go  to  New  Bedford  to  see  a  brilliant  wed- 
ding ;  for,  they  say,  they  have  reservoirs  of  oil  in  every  house, 
and  eveiy  night  recklessly  burn  their  lengths  in  spermaceti 
candles. 

In  summer  time,  the  town  is  sweet  to  see ;  full  of  fine 
maples — long  avenues  of  green  and  gold.  And  in  August, 
high  in  ah,  the  beautiful  and  bountiful  horse-chestnuts,  cande- 
labra-wise, proffer  the  passer-by  their  tapering  upright  cones  of 
congregated  blossoms.  So  omnipotent  is  art ;  which  in  many 
a  district  of  New  Bedford  has  superinduced  bright  terraces  of 
flowers  upon  the  barren  refuse  rocks  thrown  aside  at  creation's 
final  day. 

And  the  women  of  New  Bedford,  they  bloom  like  their  own 
red  roses.  But  roses  only  bloom  in  summer ;  whereas  the  fine 
carnation  of  their  cheeks  is  perennial  as  sunlight  in  the  seventh 
heavens.  Elsewhere  match  that  bloom  of  theirs,  ye  cannot, 
save  in  Salem,  where  they  tell  me  the  young  girls  breathe  such 
musk,  their  sailor  sweethearts  smell  them  miles  off  shore,  as 
though  they  were  drawing  nigh  the  odorous  Moluccas  instead  of 
the  Puritanic  sands. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    CHAPEL. 

Ik  this  same  New  Bedford  there  stands  a  Whaleman's 
Chapel,  and  few  are  the  moody  fishermen,  shortly  bound  for 
the  Indian  Ocean  or  Pacific,  who  fail  to  make  a  Sunday  visit  to 
the  spot.     I  am  sure  that  I  did  not. 

Returning  from  my  first  morning  stroll,  I  again  sallied  out 
upon  this  special  errand.  The  sky  had  changed  from  clear, 
sunny  cold,  to  driving  gleet  and  mist.     Wrapping  myself  in  my 


38  THE  CHAPEL. 


shaggy  jacket  of  the  cloth  called  bearskin,  I  fought  my  way 
against  the  stubborn  storm.  Entering,  I  found  a  small  scattered 
congregation  of  sailors,  and  sailors'  wives  and  widows.  A  muf- 
fled silence  reigned,  only  broken  at  times  by  the  shrieks  of  the 
storm.  Each  silent  worshipper  seemed  purposely  sitting  apart 
from  the  other,  as  if  each  silent  grief  were  insular  and  incom- 
municable. The  chaplain  had  not  yet  arrived  ;  and  there  these 
silent  islands  of  men  and  women  sat  steadfastly  eyeing  several 
marble  tablets,  with  black  borders,  masoned  into  the  wall  ^n 
either  side  the  pulpit.  Three  of  them  ran  something  like  the 
following,  but  I  do  not  pretend  to  quote : — 

SACRED 

2To    tfje   jfttemorj} 

OF 

JOHN    TALBOT, 

Who,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  was  lost  overboard, 

Near  the  Isle  of  Desolation,  off  Patagonia, 

November  1st,  1836. 

THIS    TABLET 

Is  erected  to  his  Memory 

BY     HIS     SISTER. 


SACRED 

So    tfje    £&emor£ 

OF 

ROBERT  LONG,   WILLIS  ELLERY, 

NATHAN  COLEMAN,  WALTER  CANNY,  SETH  MACY, 

AND  SAMUEL  GLEIG, 

Forming  one   of  the  boats'  crews 

o  F 

THE    SHIP     ELIZA, 

Who  were  towed  out  of  sight  by  a  Whale, 

On  the  Off-shore  Ground  in  the 

PACIFIC, 

December  31st,  1839. 
THIS  MARBLE 

Is  here  placed  by  their  surviving 
Shipmates. 


THE   CHAPEL.  39 


SACKED 

Wo  tjje  ittemors 

OF 

The  late 

CAPTAIN    EZEKIEL    HARDY, 

Who  in  the  bows  of  his  boat  was  killed  by  a 

Sperm  Whale  on  the  coast  of  Japan, 

August  3d,  1833. 

THIS     TABLET 
Is  erected  to  his  Memory 

BY 
HIS     WIDOW. 

Shaking  off  the  sleet  from  my  ice-glazed  hat  and  jacket,  I 
seated  myself  near  the  door,  and  turning  sideways  was  surprised 
to  see  Queequeg  near  me.  Affected  by  the  solemnity  of  the 
scene,  there  was  a  wondering  gaze  of  incredulous  curiosity  in 
his  countenance.  This  savage  was  the  only  person  present  who 
seemed  to  notice  my  entrance ;  because  he  was  the  only  one 
who  could  not  read,  and,  therefore,  was  not  reading  those  frigid 
inscriptions  on  the  wall.  Whether  any  of  the  relatives  of  the 
seamen  whose  names  appeared  there  were  now  among  the  con- 
gregation, I  knew  not ;  but  so  many  are  the  unrecorded 
accidents  in  the  fishery,  and  so  plainly  did  several  women 
present  wear  the  countenance  if  not  the  trappings  of  some 
unceasing  grief,  that  I  feel  sure  that  here  before  me  were 
assembled  those,  in  whose  unhealing  hearts  the  sight  of  those 
bleak  tablets  sympathetically  caused  the  old  wounds  to  bleed 
afresh. 

Oh  !  ye  whose  dead  lie  buried  beneath  the  green  grass ;  who 
standing  among  flowers  can  say — here,  here  lies  my  beloved  ; 
ye  know  not  the  desolation  that  broods  in  bosoms  like  these. 
What  bitter  blanks  in  those  black-bordered  marbles  which  cover 
no  ashes !  What  despair  in  those  immovable  inscriptions ! 
What  deadly  voids  and  unbidden  infidelities  in  the  lines  that 
«eem  to  gnaw  upon  all  Faith,  and  refuse  resurrections  to  the 


40  THE  CHAPEL. 


beings  who  have  placelessly  perished  without  a  grave.  As  well 
might  those  tablets  stand  in  the  cave  of  Elephanta  as  here. 

In  what  census  of  living  creatures,  the  dead  of  mankind  are 
included ;  why  it  is  that  a  universal  proverb  says  of  them,  that 
they  tell  no  tales,  though  containing  more  secrets  than  the 
Goodwin  Sands ;  how  it  is  that  to  his  name  who  yesterday 
departed  for  the  other  world,  we  prefix  so  significant  and  infidel 
a  word,  and  yet  do  not  thus  entitle  him,  if  he  but  embarks  for 
the  remotest  Indies  of  this  living  earth ;  why  the  Life 
Insurance  Companies  pay  death-forfeitures  upon  immortals ;  in 
what  eternal,  unstirring  paralysis,  and  deadly,  hopeless  trance,  yet 
lies  antique  Adam  who  died  sixty  round  centuries  ago ;  how  it 
is  that  we  still  refuse  to  be  comforted  for  those  who  we 
nevertheless  maintain  are  dwelling  in  unspeakable  bliss ;  why 
all  the  living  so  strive  to  hush  all  the  dead ;  wherefore  but  the 
rumor  of  a  knocking  in  a  tomb  will  terrify  a  whole  city.  All 
these  things  are  not  without  their  meanings. 

But  Faith,  like  a  jackal,  feeds  among  the  tombs,  and  even 
from  these  dead  doubts  she  gathers  her  most  vital  hope. 

It  needs  scarcely  to  be  told,  with  what  feelings,  on  the  eve  of 
a  Nantucket  voyage,  I  regarded  those  marble  tablets,  and  by  the 
murky  light  of  that  darkened,  doleful  day  read  the  fate  of  the 
whalemen  who  had  gone  before  me.  Yes,  Ishmael,  the  same 
fate  may  be  thine.  But  somehow  I  grew  merry  again. 
Delightful  inducements  to  embark,  fine  chance  for  promotion,  it 
seems — aye,  a  stove  boat  will  make  me  an  immortal  by  brevet. 
Yes,  there  is  death  in  this  business  of  whaling — a  speechlessly 
quick  chaotic  bundling  of  a  man  into  Eternity.  But  what  then  ? 
Methinks  we  have  hugely  mistaken  this  matter  of  Life  and 
Death.  Methinks  that  what  they  call  my  shadow  here  on 
earth  is  my  true  substance.  Methinks  that  in  looking  at  things 
spiritual,  we  are  too  much  like  oysters  observing  the  sun 
through  the  water,  and  thinking  that  thick  water  the  thinnest 
of  air.    Methinks  my  body  is  but  the  lees  of  my  better  being. 


THE    PULPIT.  41 


In  fact  take  my  body  who  will,  take  it  I  say,  it  is  not  me.  And 
therefore  three  cheers  for  Nantucket ;  and  come  a  stove  boat 
and  stove  body  when  they  will,  for  stave  my  soul,  Jove  himself 
cannot. 


CHAPTER  VUI. 

THE   PULPIT. 

I  had  not  been  seated  very  long  ere  a  man  of  a  certain  vene- 
rable robustness  entered ;  immediately  as  the  storm-pelted  door 
flew  back  upon  admitting  him,  a  quick  regardful  eyeing  of  him 
by  all  the  congregation,  sufficiently  attested  that  this  fine  old 
man  was  the  chaplain.  Yes,  it  was  the  famous  Father  Mapple, 
so  called  by  the  whalemen,  among  whom  he  was  a  very  great 
favorite.  He  had  been  a  sailor  and  a  harpooneer  in  his  youth, 
but  for  many  years  past  had  dedicated  his  life  to  the  ministry. 
At  the  time  I  now  write  of,  Father  Mapple  was  in  the  hardy 
winter  of  a  healthy  old  age  ;  that  sort  of  old  age  which  seems 
merging  into  a  second  flowering  youth,  for  among  all  the  fissures 
of  his  wrinkles,  there  shone  certain  mild  gleams  of  a  newly 
developing  bloom — the  spring  verdure  peeping  forth  even 
beneath  February's  snow.  No  one  having  previously  heard  his 
history,  could  for  the  first  time  behold  Father  Mapple  without 
the  utmost  interest,  because  there  were  certain  engrafted  clerical 
peculiarities  about  him,  imputable  to  that  adventurous  maritime 
fife  he  had  led.  When  he  entered  I  observed  that  he  carried 
no  umbrella,  and  certainly  had  not  come  in  his  carnage,  for  his 
tarpaulin  hat  ran  down  with  melting  sleet,  and  his  great  pilot 
cloth  jacket  seemed  almost  to  drag  him  to  the  floor  with  the 
weight  of  the  water  it  had  absorbed.  However,  hat  and  coat 
and  overshoes  were  one  by  one  removed,  and  hung  up  in  a 


42  THE    PULPIT. 


little  space  in  an  adjacent  corner ;  -when,  arrayed  in  a  decent 
suit,  he  quietly  approached  the  pulpit. 

Like  most  old  fashioned  pulpits,  it  was  a  very  lofty  one,  and 
since  a  regular  stairs  to  such  a  height  would,  by  its  long  angle 
with  the  floor,  seriously  contract  the  already  small  area  of  the 
chapel,  the  architect,  it  seemed,  had  acted  upon  the  hint  of 
Father  Mapple,  and  finished  the  pulpit  without  a  stairs,  substi- 
tuting a  perpendicular  side  ladder,  like  those  used  in  mounting 
a  ship  from  a  boat  at  sea.  The  wife  of  a  whaling  captain  had 
provided  the  chapel  with  a  handsome  pair  of  red  worsted  man- 
ropes  for  this  ladder,  which,  being  itself  nicely  headed,  and 
stained  with  a  mahogany  color,  the  whole  contrivance,  consider- 
ing what  manner  of  chapel  it  was,  seemed  by  no  means  in  bad 
taste.  Halting  for  an  instant  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder,  and  with 
both  hands  grasping  the  ornamental  knobs  of  the  man-ropes, 
Father  Mapple  cast  a  look  upwards,  and  then  with  a  truly  sailor- 
like but  still  reverential  dexterity,  hand  over  hand,  mounted  the 
steps  as  if  ascending  the  main-top  of  his  vessel. 

The  perpendicular  parts  of  this  side  ladder,  as  is  usually  the 
case  with  swinging  ones,  were  of  cloth-covered  rope,  only  the 
rounds  were  of  wood,  so  that  at  every  step  there  was  a  joint. 
At  my  first  glimpse  of  the  pulpit,  it  had  not  escaped  me  that 
however  convenient  for  a  ship,  these  joints  in  the  present 
instance  seemed  unnecessary.  For  I  was  not  prepared  to  see 
Father  Mapple  after  gaining  the  height,  slowly  turn  round,  and 
stooping  over  the  pulpit,  deliberately  drag  up  the  ladder  step  by 
step,  till  the  whole  was  deposited  within,  leaving  him  impregna- 
ble in  his  little  Quebec. 

I  pondered  some  time  without  fully  comprehending  the  reason 
for  this.  Father  Mapple  enjoyed  such  a  wide  reputation  for 
sincerity  and  sanctity,  that  I  could  not  suspect  him  of  courting 
notoriety  by  any  mere  tricks  of  the  stage.  No,  thought  I, 
there  must  be  some  sober  reason  for  this  thing ;  furthermore, 
it  must  symbolize  something  unseen.    Can  it  be,  then,  that  by 


THE    PULPIT.  43 


that  act  of  physical  isolation,  he  signifies  his  spiritual  withdrawal 
for  the  time,  from  all  outward  worldly  ties  and  connexions  ? 
Yes,  for  replenished  with  the  meat  and  wine  of  the  word,  to  the 
faithful  man  of  God,  this  pulpit,  I  see,  is  a  self-containing  strong- 
hold— a  lofty  Ehrenbreitstein,  with  a  perennial  well  of  water 
within  the  walls. 

But  the  side  ladder  was  not  the  only  strange  feature  of  the 
place,  borrowed  from  the  chaplain's  former  sea-farings.  Between 
the  marble  cenotaphs  on  either  hand  of  the  pulpit,  the  wall 
which  formed  its  back  was  adorned  with  a  large  painting  repre- 
senting a  gallant  ship  beating  against  a  terrible  storm  off  a  lee 
coast  of  black  rocks  and  snowy  breakers.  But  high  above  the 
flying  scud  and  dark-rolling  clouds,  there  floated  a  little  isle  of 
sunlight,  from  which  beamed  forth  an  angel's  face ;  and  this 
bright  face  shed  a  distinct  spot  of  radiance  upon  the  ship's 
tossed  deck,  something  like  that  silver  plate  now  inserted  into 
the  Victory's  plank  where  Nelson  fell.  "  Ah,  noble  ship,"  the 
angel  seemed  to  say,  "  beat  on,  beat  on,  thou  noble  ship,  and 
bear  a  hardy  helm  ;  for  lo  !  the  sun  is  breaking  through  ;  the 
clouds  are  rolling  off — serenest  azure  is  at  hand." 

Nor  was  the  pulpit  itself  without  a  trace  of  the  same  sea-taste 
that  had  achieved  the  ladder  and  the  picture.  Its  panelled 
front  was  in  the  likeness  of  a  ship's  bluff  bows,  and  the  Holy 
Bible  rested  on  a  projecting  piece  of  scroll  work,  fashioned  after 
a  ship's  fiddle-headed  beak. 

What  could  be  more  full  of  meaning  ? — for  the  pulpit  is  ever 
this  earth's  foremost  part;  all  the  rest  comes  in  its  rear; 
the  pulpit  leads  the  world.  From  thence  it  is  the  storm  of 
God's  quick  wrath  is  first  descried,  and  the  bow  must  bear  the 
earliest  brunt.  From  thence  it  is  the  God  of  breezes  fair  or  foul 
is  first  invoked  for  favorable  winds.  Yes,  the  world's  a  ship  on 
its  passage  out,  and  not  a  voyage  complete ;  and  the  pulpit 
is  its  prow. 


44  THE    SERMON. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    SERMON.' 

Father  Mapple  rose,  and  in  a  mild  voice  of  unassuming 
authority  ordered  the  scattered  people  to  condense.  "  Starboard 
gangway,  there !  side  away  to  larboard — larboard  gangway  to 
starboard !     Midships  !  midships  ! " 

There  was  a  low  rumbling  of  heavy  sea-boots  among  the 
benches,  and  a  still  slighter  shuffling  of  women's  shoes,  and  all 
was  quiet  again,  and  every  eye  on  the  preacher. 

He  paused  a  little ;  then  kneeling  in  the  pulpit's  bows,  folded 
his  large  brown  hands  across  his  chest,  uplifted  his  closed  eyes, 
and  offered  a  prayer  so  deeply  devout  that  he  seemed  kneeling 
and  praying  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea. 

This  ended,  in  prolonged  solemn  tones,  like  the  continual  toll- 
ing of  a  bell  in  a  ship  that  is  foundering  at  sea  in  a  fog — in  such 
tones  he  commenced  reading  the  following  hymn  ;  but  changing 
his  manner  towards  the  concluding  stanzas,  burst  forth  with  a 
pealing  exultation  and  joy — 

"  The  ribs  and  terrors  in  the  whale, 
Arched  over  me  a  dismal  gloom, 
While  all  God's  sun-lit  waves  rolled  by, 
And  lift  me  deepening  down  to  doom. 

"  I  saw  the  opening  maw  of  hell, 

With  endless  pains  and  sorrows  there ; 
Which  none  but  they  that  feel  can  tell — 
Oh,  I  was  plunging  to  despair. 

"  In  black  distress,  I  called  my  God, 

When  I  could  scarce  believe  him  mine, 
He  bowed  his  ear  to  my  complaints — 
No  more  the  whale  did  me  confine. 


THE    SERMON.  45 


"  With  speed  he  flew  to  my  relief, 
As  on  a  radiant  dolphin  borne ; 
Awful,  yet  bright,  as  lightning  shone 
The  face  of  my  Deliverer  God. 

"  My  song  for  ever  shall  record 
That  terrible,  that  joyful  hour  ; 
I  give  the  glory  to  my  God, 

His  all  the  mercy  and  the  power." 

Nearly  all  joined  in  singing  this  hymn,  which  swelled  high 
above  the  howling  of  the  storm.  A  brief  pause  ensued ;  the 
preacher  slowly  turned  over  the  leaves  of  the  Bible,  and  at  last, 
folding  his  hand  down  upon  the  proper  page,  said  :  "  Beloved 
shipmates,  clinch  the  last  verse  of  the  first  chapter  of  Jonah — 
"  And  God  had  prepared  a  great  fish  to  swallow  up  Jonah." 

"  Shipmates,  this  book,  containing  only  four  chapters — four 
yarns — is  one  of  the  smallest  strands  in  the  mighty  cable  of  the 
Scriptures.  Yet  what  depths  of  the  soul  does  Jonah's  deep  sea- 
line  sound !  what  a  pregnant  lesson  to  us  is  this  prophet !  "What 
a  noble  thing  is  that  canticle  in  the  fish's  belly  !  How  billow- 
like and  boisterously  grand  !  We  feel  the  floods  surging  over  us ; 
we  sound  with  him  to  the  kelpy  bottom  of  the  waters  ;  sea-weed 
and  all  the  slime  of  the  sea  is  about  us  !  But  what  is  this  les- 
son that  the  book  of  Jonah  teaches  ?  Shipmates,  it  is  a  two- 
stranded  lesson ;  a  lesson  to  us  all  as  sinful  men,  and  a 
lesson  to  me  as  a  pilot  of  the  living  God.  As  sinful  men,  it  is 
a  lesson  to  us  all,  because  it  is  a  story  of  the  sin,  hard-hearted- 
ness,  suddenly  awakened  fears,  the  swift  punishment,  repent- 
ance, prayers,  and  finally  the  deliverance  and  joy  of  Jonah.  As 
with  all  sinners  among  men,  the  sin  of  this  son  of  Amittai  was 
in  his  wilful  disobedience  of  the  command  of  God — never  mind 
now  what  that  command  was,  or  how  conveyed — which  he 
found  a  hard  command.  But  all  the  things  that  God  would 
have  us  do  are  hard  for  us  to  do — remember  that — and  hence, 
he  oftener  commands  us  than  endeavors  to  persuade.     And  if 


46  THE    SERMON. 


we  obey  God,  we  must  disobey  ourselves ;  and  it  is  in  this 
disobeying  ourselves,  wberein  the  hardness  of  obeying  God  con- 
sists. 

"  With  this  sin  of  disobedience  in  him,  Jonah  still  further  flouts 
at  God,  by  seeking  to  flee  from  Him.  He  thinks  that  a  ship 
made  by  men,  will  carry  him  into  countries  where  God  does 
not  reign,  but  only  the  Captains  of  this  earth.  He  skulks 
about  the  wharves  of  Joppa,  and  seeks  a  ship  that's  bound  for 
Tarshish.  There  lurks,  perhaps,  a  hitherto  unheeded  meaning 
here.  By  all  accounts  Tarshish  could  have  been  no  other  city 
than  the  modern  Cadiz.  That's  the  opinion  of  learned  men. 
And  where  is  Cadiz,  shipmates  ?  Cadiz  is  in  Spain  ;  as  far  by 
water,  from  Joppa,  as  Jonah  could  possibly  have  sailed  in  those 
ancient  days,  when  the  Atlantic  was  an  almost  unknown  sea. 
Because  Joppa,  the  modern  Jaffa,  shipmates,  is  on  the  most 
easterly  coast  of  the  Mediterranean,  the  Syrian ;  and  Tarshish 
or  Cadiz  more  than  two  thousand  miles  to  the  westward  from 
that,  just  outside  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  See  ye  not  then, 
shipmates,  that  Jonah  sought  to  flee  world-wide  from  God  ? 
Miserable  man !  Oh  !  most  contemptible  and  worthy  of  all 
scorn ;  with  slouched  hat  and  guilty  eye,  skulking  from  his 
God ;  prowling  among  the  shipping  like  a  vile  burglar  hasten- 
ing to  cross  the  seas.  So  disordered,  self-condemning  is  his 
look,  that  had  there  been  policemen  in  those  days,  Jonah,  on 
the  mere  suspicion  of  something  wrong,  had  been  arrested  ere 
he  touched  a  deck.  How  plainly  he's  a  fugitive  !  no  baggage, 
not  a  hat-box,  valise,  or  carpet-bag, — no  friends  accompany 
him  to  the  wharf  with  their  adieux.  At  last,  after  much 
dodging  search,  he  finds  the  Tarshish  ship  receiving  the  last 
items  of  her  cargo ;  and  as  he  steps  on  board  to  see  its  Captain 
in  the  cabin,  all  the  sailors  for  the  moment  desist  from  hoisting 
in  the  goods,  to  mark  the  stranger's  evil  eye.  Jonah  sees 
this;  but  in  vain  he  tries  to  look  all  ease  and  confidence; 
in  vain  essays  his  wretched  smile.     Strong  intuitions  of  the 


THE    SERMON.  47 


man  assure  the  mariners  he  can  be  no  innocent.  In  their 
gamesome  but  still  serious  way,  one  whispers  to  the  other — 
'  Jack,  he's  robbed  a  widow ;'  or,  '  Joe,  do  you  mark  him  ; 
he's  a  bigamist ;'  or,  '  Harry  lad,  I  guess  he's  the  adulterer 
that  broke  jail  in  old  Gomorrah,  or  belike,  one  of  the  missing 
murderers  from  Sodom.'  Another  runs  to  read  the  bill  that's 
stuck  against  the  spile  upon  the  wharf  to  which  the  ship  is 
moored,  offering  five  hundred  gold  coins  for  the  apprehension  of 
a  parricide,  and  containing  a  description  of  his  person.  He 
reads,  and  looks  from  Jonah  to  the  bill ;  while  all  his  sympa- 
thetic shipmates  now  crowd  round  Jonah,  prepared  to  lay  their 
hands  upon  him.  Frighted  Jonah  trembles,  and  summoning  all 
his  boldness  to  his  face,  only  looks  so  much  the  more  a  coward. 
He  will  not  confess  himself  suspected ;  but  that  itself  is  strong 
suspicion.  So  he  makes  the  best  of  it ;  and  when  the  sailors 
find  him  not  to  be  the  man  that  is  advertised,  they  let  him 
pass,  and  he  descends  into  the  cabin. 

'  Who's  there  V  cries  the  Captain  at  his  busy  desk,  hurriedly 
making  out  his  papers  for  the  Customs — '  Who's  there  ?' 
Oh !  how  that  harmless  question  mangles  Jonah !  For  the 
instant  he  almost  turns  to  flee  again.  But  he  rallies.  '  I  seek 
a  passage  in  this  ship  to  Tarshish ;  how  soon  sail  ye,  sir  V 
Thus  far  the  busy  Captain  had  not  looked  up  to  Jonah,  though 
the  man  now  stands  before  him ;  but  no  sooner  does  he  hear 
that  hollow  voice,  than  he  darts  a  scrutinizing  glance.  '  We 
sail  with  the  next  coming  tide,'  at  last  he  slowly  answered,  still 
intently  eyeing  him.  '  No  sooner,  sir  ?' — '  Soon  enough  for 
any  honest  man  that  goes  a  passenger.'  Ha !  Jonah,  that's 
another  stab.  But  he  swiftly  calls  away  the  Captain  from  that 
scent.  '  I'll  sail  with  ye,' — he  says, — '  the  passage  money, 
how  much  is  that  ? — I'll  pay  now.'  For  it  is  particularly 
written,  shipmates,  as  if  it  were  a  thing  not  to  be  overlooked  in 
this  history,  'that  he  paid  the  fare  thereof  ere  the  craft 
did  sail.     And  taken  with  the  context,  this  is  full  of  meaning. 


48  THE    SERMON. 


Now  Jonah's  Captain,  shipmates,  was  one  whose  discernment 
detects  crime  in  any,  but  whose  cupidity  exposes  it  only  in  the 
penniless.  In  this  world,  shipmates,  sin  that  pays  its  way  can 
travel  freely,  and  without  a  passport ;  whereas  Virtue,  if  a 
pauper,  is  stopped  at  all  frontiers.  So  Jonah's  Captain  pre- 
pares to  test  the  length  of  Jonah's  purse,  ere  he  judge  him 
openly.  He  charges  him  thrice  the  usual  sum;  and  it's  as- 
sented to.  Then  the  Captain  knows  that  Jonah  is  a  fugitive  ; 
but  at  the  same  time  resolves  to  help  a  flight  that  paves  its  rear 
with  gold.  Yet  when  Jonah  fairly  takes  out  his  purse,  prudent 
suspicions  still  molest  the  Captain.  He  rings  every  coin  to  find 
a  counterfeit.  Not  a  forger,  any  way,  he  mutters  ;  and  Jonah 
is  put  down  for  his  passage.  '  Point  out  my  state-room,  Sir,' 
says  Jonah  now,  '  I'm  travel-weary ;  I  need  sleep.'  '  Thou 
look'st  like  it,'  says  the  Captain,  '  there's  thy  room.'  Jonah 
enters,  and  would  lock  the  door,  but  the  lock  contains  no  key. 
Hearing  him  foolishly  fumbling  there,  the  Captain  laughs  lowly 
to  himself,  and  mutters  something  about  the  doors  of  convicts' 
cells  being  never  allowed  to  be  locked  within.  All  dressed  and 
dusty  as  he  is,  Jonah  throws  himself  into  his  berth,  and  finds 
the  little  state-room  ceiling  almost  resting  on  his  forehead.  The 
air  is  close,  and  Jonah  gasps.  Then,  in  that  contracted  hole, 
sunk,  too,  beneath  the  ship's  water-line,  Jonah  feels  the  herald- 
ing presentiment  of  that  stifling  hour,  when  the  whale  shall  hold 
him  in  the  smallest  of  his  bowel's  wards. 

"  Screwed  at  its  axis  against  the  side,  a  swinging  lamp  slightly 
oscillates  in  Jonah's  room ;  and  the  ship,  heeling  over  towards  the 
wharf  with  the  weight  of  the  last  bales  received,  the  lamp,  flame 
and  all,  though  in  slight  motion,  still  maintains  a  permanent  obli- 
quity with  reference  to  the  room ;  though,  in  truth,  infallibly 
straight  itself,  it  but  made  obvious  the  false,  lying  levels  among 
which  it  hung.  The  lamp  alarms  and  frightens  Jonah ;  as  lying  in 
his  berth  his  tormented  eyes  roll  round  the  place,  and  this  thus  far 
successful  fugitive  finds  no  refuge  for  his  restless  glance.  But  that 


THE    SERMON.  49 

contradiction  in  the  lamp  more  and  more  appals  him.  The  floor, 
the  ceiling,  and  the  side,  are  all  awry.  '  Oh  !  so  my  conscience 
hangs  in  me  !'  he  groans,  '  straight  upward,  so  it  burns ;  but 
the  chambers  of  my  soul  are  all  in  crookedness !' 

"  Like  one  who  after  a  night  of  drunken  revelry  hies  to  his 
bed,  still  reeling,  but  with  conscience  yet  pricking  him,  as  the 
plungings  of  the  Roman  race-horse  but  so  much  the  more 
strike  his  steel  tags  into  him ;  as  one  who  in  that  miserable 
plight  still  turns  and  turns  in  giddy  anguish,  praying  God  for 
annihilation  until  the  fit  be  passed  ;  and  at  last  amid  the  whirl 
of  woe  he  feels,  a  deep  stupor  steals  over  him,  as  over  the 
man  who  bleeds  to  death,  for  conscience  is  the  wound,  and 
there's  naught  to  staunch  it ;  so,  after  sore  wrestlings  in  his  berth, 
Jonah's  prodigy  of  ponderous  misery  drags  him  drowning 
down  to  sleep. 

"  And  now  the  time  of  tide  has  come ;  the  ship  casts  off  her 
cables ;  and  from  the  deserted  wharf  the  uncheered  ship  for 
Tarshish,  all  careening,  glides  to  sea.  That  ship,  my  friends, 
was  the  first  of  recorded  smugglers  !  the  contraband  was  Jonah. 
But  the  sea  rebels ;  he  will  not  bear  the  wicked  burden.  A 
dreadful  storm  comes  on,  the  ship  is  like  to  break.  But  now 
when  the  boatswain  calls  all  hands  to  lighten  her ;  when  boxes, 
bales,  and  jars  are  clattering  overboard ;  when  the  wind  is 
shrieking,  and  the  men  are  yelling,  and  every  plank  thunders 
with  trampling  feet  right  over  Jonah's  head ;  in  all  this  raging 
tumult,  Jonah  sleeps  his  hideous  sleep.  He  sees  no  black  sky 
and  raging  sea,  feels  not  the  reeling  timbers,  and  little  hears  he 
or  heeds  he  the  far  rush  of  the  mighty  whale,  which  even  now 
with  open  mouth  is  cleaving  the  seas  after  him.  Aye, 
shipmates,  Jonah  was  gone  down  into  the  sides  of  the  ship — 
a  berth  in  the  cabin  as  I  have  taken  it,  and  was  fast  asleep. 
But  the  frightened  master  comes  to  him,  and  shrieks  in  his 
dead  ear,  '  What  meanest  thou,  0  sleeper  !  arise !'  Startled 
from  his  lethargy  by  that  direful  cry,  Jonah  staggers  to  his 

3 


50  THE    SERMON. 


feet,  and  stumbling  to  the  deck,  grasps  a  shroud,  to  look  out 
upon  the  sea.  But  at  that  moment  he  is  sprung  upon  by  a 
panther  billow  leaping  over  the  bulwarks.  Wave  after  wave 
thus  leaps  into  the  ship,  and  finding  no  speedy  vent  runs 
roaring  fore  and  aft,  till  the  mariners  come  nigh  to  drowning 
while  yet  afloat.  And  ever,  as  the  white  moon  shows  her 
affrighted  face  from  the  steep  gullies  in  the  blackness  overhead, 
aghast  Jonah  sees  the  rearing  bowsprit  j)ointing  high  upward, 
but  soon  beat  downward  again  towards  the  tormented  deep. 

"  Terrors  upon  terrors  run  shouting  through  his  soul.  In  all 
his  cringing  attitudes,  the  God-fugitive  is  now  too  plainly 
known.  The  sailors  mark  him ;  more  and  more  certain  grow 
their  suspicions  of  him,  and  at  last,  fully  to  test  the  truth,  by 
referring  the  whole  matter  to  high  Heaven,  they  fall  to  casting 
lots,  to  see  for  whose  cause  this  great  tempest  was  upon  them. 
The  lot  is  Jonah's ;  that  discovered,  then  how  furiously  they 
mob  him  with  their  questions.  '  What  is  thine  occupation  ? 
Whence  comest  thou  ?  Thy  country  ?  What  people  V  But 
mark  now,  my  shipmates,  the  behavior  of  poor  Jonah.  The 
eager  mariners  but  ask  him  who  he  is,  and  where  from ; 
whereas,  they  not  only  receive  an  answer  to  those  questions,  but 
likewise  another  answer  to  a  question  not  put  by  them,  but  the 
unsolicited  answer  is  forced  from  Jonah  by  the  hard  hand  01 
God  that  is  upon  him. 

" '  I  am  a  Hebrew,'  he  cries — and  then — '  I  fear  the  Lord  the 
God  of  Heaven  who  hath  made  the  sea  and  the  dry  land  !' 
Fear  him,  0  Jonah  ?  Aye,  well  mightest  thou  fear  the  Lord 
God  then  !  Straightway,  he  now  goes  on  to  make  a  full  con- 
fession ;  whereupon  the  mariners  became  more  and  more 
appalled,  but  still  are  pitiful.  For  when  Jonah,  not  yet  sup- 
plicating God  for  mercy,  since  he  but  too  well  knew  the  dark- 
ness of  his  deserts, — when  wretched  Jonah  cries  out  to  them  to 
take  him  and  cast  him  forth  into  the  sea,  for  he  knew  that  for 
his  sake  this  great  tempest  was  upon  them  ;  they  mercifully 


THE    SERMON.  51 

turn  from  him,  and  seek  by  other  means  to  save  the  ship.  But 
all  in  vain ;  the  indignant  gale  howls  louder ;  then,  with  one 
hand  raised  invokingly  to  God,  with  the  other  they  not  unre- 
luctantly  lay  hold  of  Jonah. 

And  now  behold  Jonah  taken  up  as  an  anchor  and  dropped 
into  the  sea ;  when  instantly  an  oily  calmness  floats  out  from 
the  east,  and  the  sea  is  still,  as  Jonah  carries  down  the  gale 
with  him,  leaving  smooth  water  behind.  He  goes  down  in  the 
whirling  heart  of  such  a  masterless  commotion  that  he  scarce 
heeds  the  moment  when  he  drops  seething  into  the  yawning 
jaws  awaiting  him ;  and  the  whale  shoots-to  all  his  ivory 
teeth,  like  so  many  white  bolts,  upon  his  prison.  Then  Jonah 
prayed  unto  the  Lord  out  of  the  fish's  belly.  But  observe  his 
prayer,  and  learn  a  weighty  lesson.  For  sinful  as  he  is,  Jonah 
does  not  weep  and  wail  for  direct  deliverance.  He  feels  that 
his  dreadful  punishment  is  just.  He  leaves  all  his  deliver- 
ance to  God,  contenting  himself  with  this,  that  spite  of  all  his 
pains  and  pangs,  he  will  still  look  towards  His  holy  temple. 
And  here,  shipmates,  is  true  and  faithful  repentance ;  not  cla- 
morous for  pardon,  but  grateful  for  punishment.  And  how 
pleasing  to  God  was  this  conduct  in  Jonah,  is  shown  in  the 
eventual  deliverance  of  him  from  the  sea  and  the  whale.  Ship- 
mates, I  do  not  place  Jonah  before  you  to  be  copied  for  his  sin 
but  I  do  place  him  before  you  as  a  model  for  repentance.  Sin 
not ;  but  if  you  do,  take  heed  to  repent  of  it  like  Jonah." 

While  he  was  speaking  these  words,  the  howling  of  the 
shrieking,  slanting  storm  without  seemed  to  add  new  power  to 
the  preacher,  who,  when  describing  Jonah's  sea-storm,  seemed 
tossed  by  a  storm  himself.  His  deep  chest  heaved  as  with  a 
ground-swell ;  his  tossed  arms  seemed  the  warring  elements  at 
work  ;  and  the  thunders  that  rolled  away  from  off  his  swarthy 
brow,  and  the  light  leaping  from  his  eye,  made  all  his  simple 
hearers  look  on  him  with  a  quick  fear  that  was  strange  to 
them. 


52  THE    SERMON. 


There  now  came  a  lull  in  his  look,  as  he  silently  turned  over 
the  leaves  of  the  Book  once  more ;  and,  at  last,  standing 
motionless,  with  closed  eyes,  for  the  moment,  seemed  commun- 
ing with  God  and  himself. 

But  again  he  leaned  over  towards  the  people,  and  bowing 
his  head  lowly,  with  an  aspect  of  the  deepest  yet  manliest 
humility,  he  spake  these  words  : 

"  Shipmates,  God  has  laid  but  one  hand  upon  you ;  both  his 
hands  press  upon  me.  I  have  read  ye  by  what  murky  light 
may  be  mine  the  lesson  that  Jonah  teaches  to  all  sinners ;  and 
therefore  to  ye,  and  still  more  to  me,  for  I  am  a  greater  sinner 
than  ye.  And  now  how  gladly  would  I  come  down  from  this 
mast-head  and  sit  on  the  hatches  there  where  you  sit,  and 
listen  as  you  listen,  while  some  one  of  you  reads  me  that  other 
and  more  awful  lesson  which  Jonah  teaches  to  me,  as  a  pilot  of 
the  living  God.  How  being  an  anointed  pilot-prophet,  or 
speaker  of  true  tbings,  and  bidden  by  the  Lord  to  sound  those 
unwelcome  truths  in  the  ears  of  a  wicked  Nineveh,  Jonah, 
appalled  at  the  hostility  he  should  raise,  fled  from  his  mission, 
and  sought  to  escape  his  duty  and  his  God  by  taking  ship  at 
Joppa.  But  God  is  everywhere ;  Tarshish  he  never  reached. 
As  we  have  seen,  God  came  upon  him  in  the  whale,  and  swal- 
lowed him  down  to  living  gulfs  of  doom,  and  with  swift  slant- 
ings  tore  him  along  '  into  the  midst  of  the  seas,'  where  the 
eddying  depths  sucked  him  ten  thousand  fathoms  down,  and 
'the  weeds  were  wrapped  about  his  head,'  and  all  the  watery 
world  of  woe  bowled  over  him.  Yet  even  then  beyond  the 
reach  of  any  plummet — 'out  of  the  belly  of  hell' — when  the 
whale  grounded  upon  the  ocean's  utmost  bones,  even  then,  God 
heard  the  engulphed,  repenting  prophet  when  he  cried.  Then 
God  spake  unto  the  fish ;  and  from  the  shuddering  cold  and 
blackness  of  the  sea,  the  whale  came  breeching  up  towards  the 
warm  and  pleasant  sun,  and  all  the  delights  of  air  and  earth ; 
and  '  vomited  out  Jonah  upon  the  dry  land  ;'  when  the  word  of 


THE    SERMON.  53 

the  Lord  came  a  second  time ;  and  Jonah,  bruised  and  beaten 
— his  ears,  like  two  sea-shells,  still  multitudinously  murmuring  of 
the  ocean — Jonah  did  the  Almighty's  bidding.  And  what  was 
that,  shipmates  ?  To  preach  the  Truth  to  the  face  of  Falsehood ! 
That  was  it ! 

"This,  shipmates,  this  is  that  other  lesson;  and  woe  to  that 
pilot  of  the  living  God  who  slights  it.  "Woe  to  him  whom  this 
world  charms  from  Gospel  duty !  Woe  to  him  who  seeks  to 
pour  oil  upon  the  waters  when  God  has  brewed  them  into  a 
gale  !  Woe  to  him  who  seeks  to  please  rather  than  to  appal ! 
"Woe  to  him  whose  good  name  is  more  to  him  than  goodness  ! 
Woe  to  him  who,  in  this  world,  courts  not  dishonor !  Woe  to 
him  who  would  not  be  true,  even  though  to  be  false  were  salva- 
tion !  Yea,  woe  to  him  who,  as  the  great  Pilot  Paul  has  it, 
while  preaching  to  others  is  himself  a  castaway !" 

He  drooped  and  fell  away  from  himself  for  a  moment ;  then 
lifting  his  face  to  them  again,  showed  a  deep  joy  in  his  eyes,  as 
he  cried  out  with  a  heavenly  enthusiasm, — "  But  oh  !  shipmates  ! 
on  the  starboard  hand  of  every  woe,  there  is  a  sure  delight ;  and 
higher  the  top  of  that  delight,  than  the  bottom  of  the  woe  is 
deep.  Is  not  the  main-truck  higher  than  the  kelson  is  low  ?  De- 
light is  to  him — a  far,  far  upward,  and  inward  delight — who 
against  the  proud  gods  and  commodores  of  this  earth,  ever  stands 
forth  his  own  inexorable  self.  Delight  is  to  him  whose  strong  arms 
yet  support  him,  when  the  ship  of  this  base  treacherous  world 
has  gone  down  beneath  him.  Delight  is  to  him,  who  gives  no 
quarter  in  the  truth,  and  kills,  burns,  and  destroys  all  sin 
though  he  pluck  it  out  from  under  the  robes  of  Senators  and 
Judges.  Delight, — top-gallant  delight  is  to  him,  who  acknow- 
ledges no  law  or  lord,  but  the  Lord  his  God,  and  is  only 
a  patriot  to  heaven.  Delight  is  to  him,  whom  all  the  waves  of 
the  billows  of  the  seas  of  the  boisterous  mob  can  never  shake 
from  this  sure  Keel  of  the  Ages.  And  eternal  delight  and  de- 
liciousness  will  be  his,  who  coming  to  lay  hira  down,  can  say 


54  A    BOSOM    FRIEND. 

with  his  final  breath — 0  Father  ! — chiefly  known  to  me  by  Thy 
rod — mortal  or  immortal,  here  I  die.  I  have  striven  to  be 
Thine,  more  than  to  be  this  world's,  or  mine  own.  Yet  this  is 
nothing ;  I  leave  eternity  to  Thee ;  for  what  is  man  that  he 
should  live  out  the  lifetime  of  his  God  ?" 

He  said  no  more,  but  slowly  waving  a  benediction,  covered 
his  face  with  his  hands,  and  so  remained  kneeling,  till  all  the 
people  had  departed,  and  he  was  left  alone  in  the  place. 


CHAPTER  X. 

A    BOSOM   FRIEND. 

Returning  to  the  Spouter-Inn  from  the  Chapel,  I  found 
Queequeg  there  quite  alone ;  he  having  left  the  Chapel  before 
the  benediction  some  time.  He  was  sitting  on  a  bench  before 
the  fire,  with  his  feet  on  the  stove  hearth,  and  in  one  hand  was 
holding  close  up  to  his  face  that  little  negro  idol  of  his ;  peering 
hard  into  its  face,  and  with  a  jack-knife  gently  whittling  away 
at  its  nose,  meanwhile  humming  to  himself  in  his  heathenish 
way. 

But  being  now  interrupted,  he  put  up  the  image ;  and  pretty 
soon,  going  to  the  table,  took  up  a  large  book  there,  and 
placing  it  on  his  lap  began  counting  the  pages  with  deliberate 
regularity ;  at  every  fiftieth  page — as  I  fancied — stopping  a 
moment,  looking  vacantly  around  him,  and  giving  utterance  to 
a  long-drawn  gurgling  whistle  of  astonishment.  He  would  then 
begin  again  at  the  next  fifty ;  seeming  to  commence  at  number 
one  each  time,  as  though  he  could  not  count  more  than  fifty, 
and  it  was  only  by  such  a  large  number  of  fifties  being  found 
together,  that  his  astonishment  at  the  multitude  of  pages  was 
excited. 

With  much  interest  I  sat  watching  him.     Savage  though  he 


A    BOSOM    FRIEND.  55 

was,  and  hideously  marred  about  the  face — at  least  to  my 
taste — his  countenance  yet  had  a  something  in  it  which  was  by 
no  means  disagreeable.  You  cannot  hide  the  soul.  Through 
all  his  unearthly  tattooings,  I  thought  I  saw  the  traces  of  a 
simple  honest  heart;  and  in  his  large,  deep  eyes,  fiery  black  and 
bold,  there  seemed  tokens  of  a  spirit  that  would  dare  a  thousand 
devils.  And  besides  all  this,  there  was  a  certain  lofty  bearing 
about  the  Pagan,  which  even  his  uncouthness  could  not  alto- 
gether maim.  He  looked  like  a  man  who  had  never  cringed 
and  never  had  had  a  creditor.  Whether  it  was,  too,  that  his 
head  being  shaved,  his  forehead  was  drawn  out  in  freer  and 
brighter  relief,  and  looked  more  expansive  than  it  otherwise 
would,  this  I  will  not  venture  to  decide  ;  but  certain  it  was  his 
head  was  phrenologically  an  excellent  one.  It  may  seem  ridi- 
culous, but  it  reminded  me  of  General  Washington's  head,  as 
seen  in  the  popular  busts  of  him.  It  had  the  same  long 
regularly  graded  retreating  slope  from  above  the  brows,  which 
were  likewise  very  projecting,  like  two  long  promontories  thickly 
wooded  on  top.  Queequeg  was  George  Washington  cannibal- 
istically  developed. 

Whilst  I  was  thus  closely  scanning  him,  half-pretending 
meanwhile  to  be  looking  out  at  the  storm  from  the  casement, 
he  never  heeded  my  presence,  never  troubled  himself  with  so 
much  as  a  single  glance ;  but  appeared  wholly  occupied  with 
counting  the  pages  of  the  marvellous  book.  Considering  how 
sociably  we  had  been  sleeping  together  the  night  previous,  and 
especially  considering  the  affectionate  arm  I  had  found  thrown 
over  me  upon  waking  in  the  morning,  I  thought  this  indiffer- 
ence of  his  very  strange.  But  savages  are  strange  beings  ;  at 
times  you  do  not  know  exactly  how  to  take  them.  At  first 
they  are  overawing ;  their  calm  self-collectedness  of  simplicity 
seems  a  Socratic  wisdom.  I  had  noticed  also  that  Queequeg 
never  consorted  at  all,  or  but  very  little,  with  the  other  seamen 
in  the  inn.     He  made  no  advances  whatever ;  appeared  to  have 


56  A    BOSOM    FRIEND. 

no  desire  to  enlarge  the  circle  of  his  acquaintances.  All  this 
struck  me  as  mighty  singular ;  yet,  upon  second  thoughts, 
there  was  something  almost  sublime  in  it.  Here  was  a  man 
some  twenty  thousand  miles  from  home,  by  the  way  of  Cape 
Horn,  that  is — which  was  the  only  way  he  could  get  there — 
thrown  among  people  as  strange  to  him  as  though  he  were  in 
the  planet  Jupiter ;  and  yet  he  seemed  entirely  at  his  ease ; 
preserving  the  utmost  serenity ;  content  with  his  own  compa- 
nionship ;  always  equal  to  himself.  Surely  this  was  a  touch  of 
fine  philosophy ;  though  no  doubt  he  had  never  heard  there  was 
such  a  thing  as  that.  But,  perhaps,  to  be  true  philosophers,  we 
mortals  should  not  be  conscious  of  so  living  or  so  striving.  So 
soon  as  I  hear  that  such  or  such  a  man  gives  himself  out  for  a 
philosopher,  I  conclude  that,  like  the  dyspeptic  old  woman,  he 
must  have  "  broken  his  digester." 

As  I  sat  there  in  that  now  lonely  room ;  the  fire  burning 
low,  in  that  mild  stage  when,  after  its  first  intensity  has 
warmed  the  air,  it  then  only  glows  to  be  looked  at ;  the  evening 
shades  and  phantoms  gathering  round  the  casements,  and  peer- 
ing in  upon  us  silent,  solitary  twain ;  the  storm  booming  without 
in  solemn  swells ;  I  began  to  be  sensible  of  strange  feelings.  I 
felt  a  melting  in  me.  No  more  my  splintered  heart  and  mad- 
dened hand  were  turned  against  the  wolfish  world.  This 
soothing  savage  had  redeemed  it.  There  he  sat,  his  very  indif- 
ference speaking  a  nature  in  which  there  lurked  no  civilized 
hypocrisies  and  bland  deceits.  Wild  he  was ;  a  very  sight  of 
sights  to  see ;  yet  I  began  to  feel  myself  mysteriously  drawn 
towards  him.  And  those  same  things  that  would  have  repelled 
most  others,  they  were  the  very  magnets  that  thus  drew  me. 
I'll  try  a  pagan  friend,  thought  I,  since  Christian  kindness  has 
proved  but  hollow  courtesy.  I  drew  my  bench  near  him,  and 
made  some  friendly  signs  and  hints,  doing  my  best  to  talk  with 
him  meanwhile.  At  first  he  little  noticed  these  advances  ;  but 
presently,  upon  my  referring  to  his  last  night's  hospitalities,  he 


A    BOSOM    FRIEND.  57 

made  out  to  ask  me  whether  we  were  again  to  be  bedfellows. 
I  told  him  yes ;  whereat  I  thought  he  looked  pleased,  perhaps 
a  little  complimented. 

We  then  turned  over  the  book  together,  and  I  endeavored 
to  explain  to  him  the  purpose  of  the  printing,  and  the  meaning 
of  the  few  pictures  that  were  in  it.  Thus  I  soon  engaged  his 
interest ;  and  from  that  we  went  to  jabbering  the  best  wo 
could  about  the  various  outer  sights  to  be  seen  in  this  famous 
town.  Soon  I  proposed  a  social  smoke ;  and,  producing  his 
pouch  and  tomahawk,  be  quietly  offered  me  a  puff.  And  then 
we  sat  exchanging  puffs  from  that  wild  pipe  of  his,  and  keeping 
it  regularly  passing  between  us. 

If  there  yet  lurked  any  ice  of  indifference  towards  me  in  the 
Pagan's  breast,  this  pleasant,  genial  smoke  we  had,  soon  thawed 
it  out,  and  left  us  cronies.  He  seemed  to  take  to  me  quite  as 
naturally  and  unbiddenly  as  I  to  him  ;  and  when  our  smoke 
was  over,  he  pressed  his  forehead  against  mine,  clasped  me 
round  the  waist,  and  said  that  henceforth  we  were  married ; 
meaning,  in  his  country's  phrase,  that  we  were  bosom  friends ; 
he  would  gladly  die  for  me,  if  need  should  be.  In  a  country- 
man, this  sudden  flame  of  friendship  would  have  seemed  far 
too  premature,  a  thing  to  be  much  distrusted  ;  but  in  this  simple 
savage  those  old  rules  would  not  apply. 

After  supper,  and  another  social  chat  and  smoke,  we  went  to 
our  room  together.  He  made  me  a  present  of  his  embalmed 
head ;  took  out  his  enormous  tobacco  wallet,  and  groping  under 
the  tobacco,  drew  put  some  thirty  dollars  in  silver;  then 
spreading  them  on  the  table,  and  mechanically  dividing  them 
into  two  equal  portions,  pushed  one  of  them  towards  me,  and 
said  it  was  mine.  I  was  going  to  remonstrate  ;  but  he  silenced 
me  by  pouring  them  into  my  browsers  pockets.  I  let  them  stay. 
He  then  went  about  his  evening  prayers,  took  out  his  idol,  and 
removed  the  paper  fireboard.  By  certain  signs  and  symptoms, 
I  thought  he  seemed  anxious  for  me  to  join  him ;  but  well 

3* 


58  NIGHTGOWN. 


knowing  what  was  to  follow,  I  deliberated  a  moment  whether, 
in  case  he  invited  me,  I  would  comply  or  otherwise. 

I  was  a  good  Christian  ;  born  and  bred  in  the  bosom  of  the 
infallible  Presbyterian  Church.  How  then  could  I  unite  with 
this  wild  idolator  in  worshipping  his  piece  of  wood  ?  But  what 
is  worship  ?  thought  I.  Do  you  suppose  now,  Ishmael,  that  the 
magnanimous  God  of  heaven  and  earth — pagans  and  all  in- 
cluded— can  possibly  be  jealous  of  an  insignificant  bit  of  black 
wood  ?  Impossible  !  But  what  is  worship  ? — to  do  the  will  of 
God — that  is  worship.  And  what  is  the  will  of  God  ? — to  do 
to  my  fellow  man  what  I  would  have  my  feUow  man  to  do  to 
me- — that  is  the  will  of  God.  Now,  Queequeg  is  my  fellow 
man.  And  what  do  I  wish  that  this  Queequeg  would  do  to 
me  ?  Why,  unite  with  me  in  my  particular  Presbyterian  form 
of  worship.  Consequently,  I  must  then  unite  with  him  in  his  ; 
ergo,  1  must  turn  idolator.  So  I  kindled  the  shavings  ;  helped 
prop  up  the  innocent  little  idol ;  offered  him  burnt  biscuit  with 
Queequeg  ;  salamed  before  him  twice  or  thrice ;  kissed  his  nose ; 
and  that  done,  we  undressed  and  went  to  bed,  at  peace  with 
our  own  consciences  and  all  the  world.  But  we  did  not  go  to 
sleep  without  some  little  chat. 

How  it  is  I  know  not ;  but  there  is  no  place  like  a  bed  for 
confidential  disclosures  between  friends.  Man  and  wife,  they 
say,  there  open  the  very  bottom  of  their  souls  to  each  other ; 
and  some  old  couples  often  lie  and  chat  over  old  times  till 
nearly  morning.  Thus,  then,  in  our  hearts'  honeymoon,  lay  I 
and  Queequeg — a  cosy,  loving  pair. 


CHAPTER  XL 

NIGHTGOWN. 

We  had  lain  thus  in  bed,   chatting  and  napping  at  short 
intervals,  and  Queequeg  now  and  then  affectionately  throwing 


NIGHTGOWN  59 


his  brown  tattooed  legs  over  mine,  and  then  drawing  them  back ; 
so  entirely  sociable  and  free  and  easy  were  we  ;  when,  at  last, 
by  reason  of  our  confabulations,  what  little  nappislmess  remained 
in  us  altogether  departed,  and  we  felt  like  getting  up  again, 
though  day-break  was  yet  some  way  down  the  future. 

Yes,  we  became  very  wakeful ;  so  much  so  that  our  recum- 
bent position  began  to  grow  wearisome,  and  by  little  and  little 
wre  found  ourselves  sitting  up ;  the  clothes  well  tucked  around 
us,  leaning  against  the  head-board  with  our  four  knees  drawn 
up  close  together,  and  our  two  noses  bending  over  them,  as  if 
our  knee-pans  were  Avarming-pans.  We  felt  very  nice  and  snug, 
the  more  so  since  it  was  so  chilly  out  of  doors  ;  indeed  out  of 
bed-clothes  too,  seeing  that  there  was  no  fire  in  the  room.  The 
more  so,  I  say,  because  truly  to  enjoy  bodily  warmth,  some 
small  part  of  you  must  be  cold,  for  there  is  no  quality  in  this 
world  that  is  not  what  it  is  merely  by  contrast.  Nothing  exists 
in  itself.  If  you  flatter  yourself  that  you  are  all  over  comfort- 
able, and  have  been  so  a  long  time,  then  you  cannot  be  said  to 
be  comfortable  any  more.  But  if,  like  Queequeg  and  me  in  the 
bed,  the  tip  of  your  nose  or  the  crown  of  your  head  be  slightly 
chilled,  why  then,  indeed,  in  the  general  consciousness  you  feel 
most  delightfully  and  unmistakably  warm.  For  this  reason  a 
sleeping  apartment  should  never  be  furnished  with  a  fire,  which 
is  one  of  the  luxurious  discomforts  of  the  rich.  For  the  height 
of  this  sort  of  deliciousness  is  to  have  nothing  but  the  blanket 
between  you  and  your  snugness  and  the  cold  of  the  outer  air. 
Then  there  you  lie  like  the  one  warm  spark  in  the  heart  of  an 
arctic  crystal. 

We  had  been  sitting  in  this  crouching  manner  for  some  time, 
when  all  at  once  I  thought  I  would  open  my  eyes  ;  for  when 
between  sheets,  whether  by  day  or  by  night,  and  whether  asleep 
or  awake,  I  have  a  way  of  always  keeping  my  eyes  shut,  in  order 
the  more  to  concentrate  the  snugness  of  being  in  bed.  Because 
no  man  can  ever  feel  his  own  identity  aright  except  his  eyes  be 


60  NIGHTGOWN 


closed ;  as  if  darkness  were  indeed  the  proper  element  of  our 
essences,  though  light  be  more  congenial  to  our  clayey  part. 
Upon  opening  my  eyes  then,  and  coming  out  of  my  own  pleas- 
ant and  self-created  darkness  into  the  imposed  and  coarse  outer 
gloom  of  the  unilluminated  twelve-o'clock-at-night,  1  experi- 
enced a  disagreeable  revulsion.  Nor  did  I  at  all  object  to  the 
hint  from  Queequeg  that  perhaps  it  were  best  to  strike  a  light, 
seeing  that  we  were  so  wide  awake  ;  and  besides  he  felt  a  strong 
desire  to  have  a  few  quiet  puffs  from  his  Tomahawk.  Be  it 
said,  that  though  I  had  felt  such  a  strong  repugnance  to  his  smok- 
ing in  the  bed  the  night  before,  yet  see  how  elastic  our  stiff  pre- 
judices grow  when  love  once  comes  to  bend  them.  For  now 
I  liked  nothing  better  than  to  have  Queequeg  smoking  by  me, 
even  in  bed,  because  he  seemed  to  be  full  of  such  serene  house- 
hold joy  then.  I  no  more  felt  unduly  concerned  for  the  land- 
lord's policy  of  insurance.  I  was  only  alive  to  the  condensed 
confidential  comfortableness  of  sharing  a  pipe  and  a  blanket  with 
a  real  friend.  With  our  shaggy  jackets  drawn  about  our 
shoulders,  we  now  passed  the  Tomahawk  from  one  to  the  other, 
till  slowly  there  grew  over  us  a  blue  hanging  tester  of  smoke, 
illuminated  by  the  flame  of  the  new-lit  lamp. 

Whether  it  was  that  this  undulating  tester  rolled  the  savage 
away  to  far  distant  scenes,  I  know  not,  but  he  now  spoke  of  his 
native  island ;  and,  eager  to  hear  his  history,  I  begged  him  to 
go  on  and  tell  it.  He  gladly  complied.  Though  at  the  time  I 
but  ill  comprehended  not  a  few  of  his  words,  yet  subsequent 
disclosures,  when  I  had  become  more  familiar  with  his  broken 
phraseology,  now  enable  me  to  present  the  whole  story  such  as 
it  Jiay  prove  in  the  mere  skeleton  I  give. 


BIOGRAPHICAL.  61 


CHAPTER  XII. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Queequeg  was  a  native  of  Kokovoko,  an  island  far  away  to 
the  West  and  South.  It  is  not  down  in  any  map  ;  true  places 
never  are. 

When  a  new-hatched  savage  running  wild  about  his  native 
woodlands  in  a  grass  clout,  followed  by  the  nibbling  goats,  as  if 
he  were  a  green  sapling ;  even  then,  in  Queequeg's  ambitious 
soul,  lurked  a  strong  desire  to  see  something  more  of  Christendom 
than  a  specimen  whaler  or  two.  His  father  was  a  High  Chief, 
a  King  ;  his  uncle  a  High  Priest ;  and  on  the  maternal  side  he 
boasted  aunts  who  were  the  wives  of  unconquerable  warriors. 
There  was  excellent  blood  in  his  veins — royal  stuff ;  though 
sadly  vitiated,  I  fear,  by  the  cannibal  propensity  he  nourished 
in  his  untutored  youth. 

A  Sag  Harbor  ship  visited  his  father's  bay,  and  Queequeg 
sought  a  passage  to  Christian  lands.  But  the  ship,  having  her 
full  complement  of  seamen,  spurned  his  suit ;  and  not  all  the 
King  his  father's  influence  could  prevail.  But  Queequeg 
vowed  a  vow.  Alone  in  his  canoe,  he  paddled  off  to  a  distant 
strait,  Avhich  he  knew  the  ship  must  pass  through  when  she 
quitted  the  island.  On  one  side  was  a  coral  reef;  on  the  other 
a  low  tongue  of  land,  covered  with  mangrove  thickets  that 
grew  out  into  the  water.  Hiding  his  canoe,  still  afloat,  among 
these  thickets,  with  its  prow  seaward,  he  sat  down  in  the  stern, 
paddle  low  in  hand ;  and  when  the  ship  was  gliding  by,  like  a 
flash  he  darted  out ;  gained  her  side ;  with  one  backward  dash 
of  his  foot  capsized  and  sank  his  canoe  ;  climbed  up  the  chains  ; 
and  throwing  himself  at  full  length  upon  the  deck,  grappled  a 


62  BIOGRAPHICAL. 

ring-bolt  there,  and  swore  not  to  let  it  go,  though  hacked  in 
pieces. 

In  vain  the  captain  threatened  to  throw  him  overboard ; 
suspended  a  cutlass  over  his  naked  wrists ;  Queequeg  was  the 
son  of  a  King,  and  Queequeg  budged  not.  Struck  by  his 
desperate  dauntlessness,  and  his  wild  desire  to  visit  Christendom, 
the  captain  at  last  relented,  and  told  him  he  might  make  him- 
self at  home.  But  this  fine  young  savage — this  sea  Prince  of 
Wales,  never  saw  the  captain's  cabin.  They  put  him  down 
among  the  sailors,  and  made  a  whaleman  of  him.  But  like 
Czar  Peter  content  to  toil  in  the  shipyards  of  foreign  cities, 
Queequeg  disdained  no  seeming  ignominy,  if  thereby  he  might 
happily  gain  the  power  of  enlightening  his  untutored  country- 
men. For  at  bottom — so  he  told  me — he  was  actuated  by  a 
profound  desire  to  learn  among  the  Christians,  the  arts  whereby 
to  make  his  people  still  happier  than  they  were ;  and  more  than 
that,  still  better  than  they  were.  But,  alas !  the  practices  of 
whalemen  soon  convinced  him  that  even  Christians  could  be 
both  miserable  and  wicked ;  infinitely  more  so,  than  all  his 
father's  heathens.  Arrived  at  last  in  old  Sag  Harbor ;  and  seeing 
what  the  sailors  did  there ;  and  then  going  on  to  Nantucket, 
and  seeing  how  they  spent  their  wages  in  that  place  also,  poor 
Queequeg  gave  it  up  for  lost.  Thought  he,  it's  a  wicked  world 
in  all  meridians  ;  I'll  die  a  pagan. 

And  thus  an  old  idolater  at  heart,  he  yet  lived  among  these 
Christians,  wore  their  clothes,  and  tried  to  talk  their  gibberish. 
Hence  the  queer  ways  about  him,  though  now  some  time  from 
home. 

By  hints,  I  asked  him  whether  he  did  not  propose  going 
back,  and  having  a  coronation ;  since  he  might  now  consider 
his  father  dead  and  gone,  he  being  very  old  and  feeble  at  the 
last  accounts.  He  answered  no,  not  yet ;  and  added  that  he 
was  fearful  Christianity,  or  rather  Christians,  had  unfitted  him 
fur  ascending  the  pure  and  undefiled  throne  of  thirty  pagan 


WHEELBARROW.  63 

Kings  before  Mm.  But  by  and  by,  he  said,  he  would  return, — as 
soon  as  he  felt  himself  baptized  again.  For  the  nonce,  however, 
he  proposed  to  sail  about,  and  sow  his  wild  oats  in  all  four 
oceans.  They  had  made  a  harpooneer  of  him,  and  that  barbed 
iron  was  in  lieu  of  a  sceptre  now. 

I  asked  him  what  might  be  his  immediate  purpose,  touching 
his  future  movements.  He  answered,  to  go  to  sea  again,  in  his 
old  vocation.  Upon  this,  I  told  him  that  whaling  was  my  own 
design,  and  informed  him  of  my  intention  to  sail  out  of 
Nantucket,  as  being  the  most  promising  port  for  an  adventurous 
whaleman  to  embark  from.  He  at  once  resolved  to  accompany 
me  to  that  island,  ship  aboard  the  same  vessel,  get  into  the  same 
watch,  the  same  boat,  the  same  mess  with  me,  in  short  to  share 
my  every  hap  ;  with  both  my  hands  in  his,  boldly  dip  into  the 
Potluck  of  both  worlds.  To  all  this  I  joyously  assented ;  for 
besides  the  affection  I  now  felt  for  Queequeg,  he  was  an 
experienced  harpooneer,  and  as  such,  could  not  fail  to  be  of 
great  usefulness  to  one,  who,  like  me,  was  wholly  ignorant  of 
the  mysteries  of  whaling,  though  well  acquainted  with  the  sea, 
as  known  to  merchant  seamen. 

His  story  being  ended  with  his  pipe's  last  dying  puff, 
Queequeg  embraced  me,  pressed  his  forehead  against  mine,  and 
blowing  out  the  light,  we  rolled  over  from  each  other,  this  way 
and  that,  and  very  soon  were  sleeping. 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

WHEELBARROW. 


/  Next  morning,  Monday,  after  disposing  of  the  embalmed  head 
to  a  barber,  for  a  block,  I  settled  my  own  and  comrade's  bill ; 
using,  however,  my  comrade's  money.  The  grinning  landlord, 
as  well  as  the  boarders,  seemed  amazingly  tickled  at  the  sudden 


64  WHEELBARROW. 

friendship  which  had  sprung  up  between  me  and  Queequeg — 
especially  as  Peter  Coffin's  cock  and  bull  stories  about  him  had 
previously  so  much  alarmed  me  concerning  the  very  person 
whom  I  now  companied  with. 

We  borrowed  a  wheelbarrow,  and  embarking  our  things,  in- 
cluding my  own  poor  carpet-bag,  and  Queequeg's  canvas  sack 
and  hammock,  away  we  went  down  to  "  the  Moss,"  the  little 
Nantucket  packet  schooner  moored  at  the  wharf.  As  we  were 
going  along  the  people  stared ;  not  at  Queequeg  so  much — 
for  they  were  used  to  seeing  cannibals  like  him  in  their  streets, 
— but  at  seeing  him  and  me  upon  such  confidential  terms. 
But  we  heeded  them  not,  going  along  wheeling  the  barrow  by 
turns,  and  Queequeg  now  and  then  stopping  to  adjust  the 
sheath  on  his  harpoon  barbs.  I  asked  him  why  he  carried 
such  a  troublesome  thing  with  him  ashore,  and  whether  all 
whaling  ships  did  not  find  their  own  harpoons.  To  this,  in 
substance,  he  replied,  that  though  what  I  hinted  was  true 
enough,  yet  he  had  a  particular  affection  for  his  own  harpoon, 
because  it  was  of  assured  stuff,  well  tried  in  many  a  mortal 
combat,  and  deeply  intimate  with  the  hearts  of  whales.  In  short, 
like  many  inland  reapers  and  mowers,  who  go  into  the 
farmers'  meadows  armed  with  their  own  scythes — though  in  no 
wise  obliged  to  furnish  them — even  so,  Queequeg,  for  his  own 
private  reasons,  preferred  his  own  harpoon. 

Shifting  the  barrow  from  my  hand  to  his,  he  told  me  a  funny 
story  about  the  first  wheelbarrow  he  had  ever  seen.  It  was  in 
Sag  Harbor.  The  owners  of  his  ship,  it  seems,  had  lent  him 
one,  in  which  to  carry  his  heavy  chest  to  his  boarding  house. 
Not  to  seem  ignorant  about  the  thing — though  in  truth  he  was 
entirely  so,  concerning  the  precise  way  in  which  to  manage  the 
barrow — Queequeg  puts  his  chest  upon  it ;  lashes  it  fast ;  and 
then  shoulders  the  barrow  and  marches  up  the  wharf.  "Why," 
said  I,  "  Queequeg,  you  might  have  known  better  than  that, 
one  would  think.     Didn't  the  people  laugh  ?" 


WHEELBARROW.  65 

Upon  this,  he  told  me  another  story.  The  people  of  his 
island  of  Rokovoko,  it  seems,  at  their  wedding-  feasts  express 
the  fragrant  water  of  young  cocoanuts  into  a  large  stained 
calabash  like  a  punchbowl  ;  and  this  punchbowl  always 
forms  the  great  central  ornament  on  the  braided  mat  where  the 
feast  is  held.  Now  a  certain  grand  merchant  ship  once  touched 
at  Rokovoko,  and  its  commander — from  all  accounts,  a  very 
stately  punctilious  gentleman,  at  least  for  a  sea  captain — this 
commander  was  invited  to  the  wedding  feast  of  Queequeg's 
sister,  a  pretty  young  princess  just  turned  of  ten.  Well ;  when 
all  the  wedding  guests  were  assembled  at  the  bride's  bamboo 
cottage,  this  Captain  marches  in,  and  being  assigned  the  post 
of  honor,  placed  himself  over  against  the  punchbowl,  and  be- 
tween the  High  Priest  and  his  majesty  the  King,  Queequeg's 
father.  Grace  being  said, — for  those  people  have  their  grace 
as  well  as  we — though  Queequeg  told  me  that  unlike  us,  who 
at  such  times  look  downwards  to  our  platters,  they,  on  the 
contrary,  copying  the  ducks,  glance  upwards  to  the  great  Giver 
of  all  feasts — Grace,  I  say,  being  said,  the  High  Priest  opens 
the  banquet  by  the  immemorial  ceremony  of  the  island  ;  that  is, 
dipping  his  consecrated  and  consecrating  fingers  into  the 
bowl  before  the  blessed  beverage  circulates.  Seeing  himself 
placed  next  the  Priest,  and  noting  the  ceremony,  and  thinking 
himself — being  Captain  of  a  ship — as  having  plain  precedence 
over  a-mere  island  King,  especially  in  the  King's  own  house — 
the  Captain  coolly  proceeds  to  wash  his  hands  in  the  punch 
bowl ; — taking  it  I  suppose  for  a  huge  finger-glass.  "  Now," 
said  Queequeg,  "  what  you  tink  now  ? — Didn't  our  people 
laugh  ?" 

At  last,  passage  paid,  and  luggage  safe,  we  stood  on  board 
the  schooner.  Hoisting  sail,  it  glided  down  the  Acushnet 
river.  On  one  side,  New  Bedford'  rose  in  terraces  of  streets, 
their  ice-covered  trees  all  glittering  in  the  cleai',  cold  air. 
Huge  hills  and  mountains  of  casks  on  casks  were  piled  upon  her 


66  WHEELBARROW. 

wharves,  and  side  by  side  the  world-wandering  whale  ships 
lay  silent  and  safely  moored  at  last ;  while  from  others  came 
a  sound  of  carpenters  and  coopers,  with  blended  noises  of  fires 
and  forges  to  melt  the  pitch,  all  betokening  that  new 
cruises  were  on  the  start ;  that  one  most  perilous  and  long 
voyage  ended,  only  begins  a  second ;  and  a  second  ended,  only 
begins  a  third,  and  so  on,  for  ever  and  for  aye.  Such  is  the 
endlessness,  yea,  the  intolerableness  of  all  earthly  effort. 

Gaining  the  more  open  water,  the  bracing  breeze  waxed 
fresh  ;  the  little  Moss  tossed  the  quick  foam  from  her  bows,  as 
a  young  colt  his  snortings.  How  I  snuffed  that  Tartar  air ! 
— how  I  spurned  that  turnpike  earth  ! — that  common  highway 
all  over  dented  with  the  marks  of  slavish  heels  and  hoofs  ;  and 
turned  me  to  admire  the  magnanimity  of  the  sea  which  will 
permit  no  records. 

At  the  same  foam-fountain,  Queequeg  seemed  to  drink  and 
reel  with  me.  His  dusky  nostrils  swelled  apart ;  he  showed 
his  filed  and  pointed  teeth.  On,  on  we  flew ;  and  our  offing 
gained,  the  Moss  did  homage  to  the  blast ;  ducked  and  dived 
her  brows  as  a  slave  before  the  Sultan.  Sideways  leaning, 
we  sideways  darted ;  every  ropeyarn  tingling  like  a  wire  ;  the 
two  tall  masts  buckling  like  Indian  canes  in  land  tornadoes.  So 
full  of  this  reeling  scene  were  we,  as  we  stood  by  the  plunging 
bowsprit,  that  for  some  time  we  did  not  notice  the  jeering  glances 
of  the  passengers,  a  lubber-like  assembly,  who  marvelled  that 
two  fellow  beings  should  be  so  companionable  ;  as  though  a 
white  man  were  anything  more  dignified  than  a  whitewashed 
negro.  But  there  were  some  boobies  and  bumpkins  there,  who, 
by  their  intense  greenness,  must  have  come  from  the  heart  and 
centre  of  all  verdure.  Queequeg  caught  one  of  these  young 
saplings  mimicking  him  behind  his  back.  I  thought  the  bump- 
kin's hour  of  doom  was  come.  Dropping  his  harpoon,  the 
brawny  savage  caught  him  in  his  arms,  and  by  an  almost  mira- 
culous dexterity  and  strength,  sent  him  high  up  bodily  into  the 


WHEELBARROW.  67 

ail- ;  then  slightly  tapping  his  stern  in  mid-somerset,  the  fellow 
landed  with  bursting  lungs  upon  his  feet,  while  Queequeg,  turn- 
ing his  back  upon  him,  lighted  his  tomahawk  pipe  and  passed 
it  to  me  for  a  puff. 

"  Capting  !  Capting  !"  yelled  the  bumpkin,  running  towards 
that  officer ;  "  Capting,  Capting,  here's  the  devil." 

"  Hallo,  you  sir,"  cried  the  Captain,  a  gaunt  rib  of  the  sea, 
stalking  up  to  Queequeg,  "what  in  thunder  do  you  mean 
by  that  ?     Don't  you  know  you  might  have  killed  that  chap  ?" 

"What  him  say?"  said  Queequeg,  as  he  mildly  turned 
to  me. 

"  He  say,"  said  I,  "  that  you  came  near  kill-e  that  man  there," 
pointing  to  the  still  shivering  greenhorn. 

"  Kill-e,"  cried  Queequeg,  twisting  his  tattooed  face  into  an 
unearthly  expression  of  disdain,  "  ah  !  him  bevy  small-e  fish-e ; 
Queequeg  no  kill-e  so  small-e  fish-e ;  Queequeg  kill-e  big 
whale!" 

"  Look  you,"  roared  the  Captain,  "  I'll  kill-e  you,  you  canni- 
bal, if  you  try  any  more  of  your  tricks  aboard  here ;  so  mind 
your  eye." 

But  it  so  happened  just  then,  that  it  was  high  time  for  the 
Captain  to  mind  his  own  eye.  The  prodigious  strain  upon  the 
main-sail  had  parted  the  weather-sheet,  and  the  tremendous 
boom  was  now  flying  from  side  to  side,  completely  sweeping 
the  entire  after  part  of  the  deck.  The  poor  fellow  whom 
Queequeg  had  handled  so  roughly,  was  swept  overboard ;  all 
hands  were  in  a  panic ;  and  to  attempt  snatching  at  the  boom 
to  stay  it,  seemed  madness.  It  flew  from  right  to  left,  and  back 
again,  almost  in  one  ticking  of  a  watch,  and  every  instant  seemed 
on  the  point  of  snapping  into  splinters.  Nothing  was  done,  and 
nothing  seemed  capable  of  being  done ;  those  on  deck  rushed 
towards  the  bows,  and  stood  eyeing  the  boom  as  if  it  were  the 
lower  jaw  of  an  exasperated  whale.  In  the  midst  of  this  con- 
sternation, Queequeg  dropped  deftly  to  his  knees,  and  crawling 


68  WHEELBARROW. 

under  the  path  of  the  boom,  whipped  hold  of  a  rope,  secured 
one  end  to  the  bulwarks,  and  then  flinging  the  other  like  a  lasso, 
caught  it  round  the  boom  as  it  swept  over  his  head,  and  at  the 
next  jerk,  the  spar  was  that  way  trapped,  and  all  was  safe.  The 
schooner  was  run  into  the  wind,  and  while  the  hands  were 
clearing  away  the  stern  boat,  Queequeg,  stripped  to  the  waist, 
darted  from  the  side  with  a  long  living  arc  of  a  leap.  For  three 
minutes  or  more  he  was  seen  swimming  like  a  dog,  throwing 
his  long  arms  straight  out  before  him,  and  by  turns  revealing 
his  brawny  shoulders  through  the  freezing  foam.  I  looked 
at  the  grand  and  glorious  fellow,  but  saw  no  one  to  be  saved. 
The  greenhorn  had  gone  down.  Shooting  himself  perpen- 
dicularly from  the  water,  Queequeg  now  took  an  instant's 
glance  around  him,  and  seeming  to  see  just  how  matters  were, 
dived  down  and  disappeared.  A  few  minutes  more,  and  he 
rose  again,  one  arm  still  striking  out,  and  with  the  other  drag- 
ging a  lifeless  form.  The  boat  soon  picked  them  up.  The  poor 
bumpkin  was  restored.  All  hands  voted  Queequeg  a  noble 
trump ;  the  captain  begged  his  pardon.  From  that  hour  I 
clove  to  Queequeg  like  a  barnacle ;  yea,  till  poor  Queequeg  took 
his  last  long  dive. 

Was  there  ever  such  unconsciousness  ?  He  did  not  seem  to 
think  that  he  at  all  deserved  a  medal  from  the  Humane  and 
Magnanimous  Societies.  He  only  asked  for  water — fresh  water 
— something  to  wipe  the  brine  off ;  that  done,  he  put  on  dry 
clothes,  lighted  his  pipe,  and  leaning  against  the  bulwarks,  and 
mildly  eyeing  those  around  him,  seemed  to  be  saying  to  himself 
— "  It's  a  mutual,  joint-stock  world,  in  all  meridians.  "We  can- 
nibals must  help  these  Christians." 


NANTUCKET.  69 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

NANTUCKET. 

Nothing  more  happened  on  the  passage  worthy  the  men- 
tioning ;  so,  after  a  fine  run,  we  safely  arrived  in  Nantucket. 

Nantucket !  Take  out  your  map  and  look  at  it.  See  what  a 
real  corner  of  the  world  it  occupies  ;  how  it  stands  there,  away 
off  shore,  more  lonely  than  the  Eddystone  lighthouse.  Look  at 
it — a  mere  hillock,  and  elbow  of  sand;  all  beach,  without  a 
background.  There  is  more  sand  there  than  you  would  use  in 
twenty  years  as  a  substitute  for  blotting  paper.  Some 
gamesome  wights  will  tell  you  that  they  have  to  plant  weeds 
there,  they  don't  grow  naturally ;  that  they  import  Canada 
thistles  ;  that  they  have  to  send  beyond  seas  for  a  spile  to  stop 
a  leak  in  an  oil  cask ;  that  pieces  of  wood  in  Nantucket  are 
carried  about  like  bits  of  the  true  cross  in  Rome ;  that  people 
there  plant  toadstools  before  their  houses,  to  get  under  the 
shade  in  summer  time ;  that  one  blade  of  grass  makes  an 
oasis,  three  blades  in  a  day's  walk  a  prairie ;  that  they 
wear  quicksand  shoes,  something  like  Laplander  snow- 
shoes  ;  that  they  are  so  shut  up,  belted  about,  every  way 
inclosed,  surrounded,  and  made  an  utter  island  of  by  the  ocean, 
that  to  their  very  chairs  and  tables  small  clams  will  sometimes 
be  found  adhering,  as  to  the  backs  of  sea  turtles.  But  these 
extravaganzas  only  show  that  Nantucket  is  no  Illinois. 

Look  now  at  the  wondrous  traditional  story  of  how  this 
island  was  settled  by  the  red-men.  Thus  goes  the  legend.  In 
olden  times  an  eagle  swooped  down  upon  the  New  England 
coast,  and  carried  off  an  infant  Indian  in  his  talons.  With  loud 
lament  the  parents  saw  their  child  borne  out  of  sight  over  the 


70  NANTUCKET. 


wide  waters.  They  resolved  to  follow  in  the  same  direction. 
Setting  out  in  their  canoes,  after  a  perilous  passage  they  dis- 
covered the  island,  and  there  they  found  an  empty  ivory  casket, 
— the  poor  little  Indian's  skeleton. 

What  wonder,  then,  that  these  Nantucketers,  bom  on  a 
beach,  should  take  to  the  sea  for  a  livelihood !  They  first  caught 
crabs  and  quohogs  in  the  sand  ;  grown  bolder,  they  waded  out 
with  nets  for  mackerel ;  more  experienced,  they  pushed  off  in 
boats  and  captured  cod ;  and  at  last,  launching  a  navy  of  great 
ships  on  the  sea,  explored  this  watery  world  ;  put  an  incessant 
belt  of  circumnavigations  round  it ;  peeped  in  at  Bhering's  Straits  ; 
and  in  all  seasons  and  all  oceans  declared  everlasting  war  with 
the  mightiest  animated  mass  that  has  survived  the  flood ;  most 
monstrous  and  most  mountainous  !  That  Himmalehan,  salt-sea 
Mastodon,  clothed  with  such  portentousness  of  unconscious 
power,  that  his  very  panics  are  more  to  be  dreaded  than  his 
most  fearless  and  malicious  assaults  ! 

And  thus  have  these  naked  Nantucketers,  these  sea  hermits, 
issuing  from  their  ant-hill  in  the  sea,  overrun  and  conquered 
the  wateiy  world  like  so  many  Alexanders ;  parcelling  out 
among  them  the  Atlantic,  Pacific,  and  Indian  oceans,  as  the 
three  pirate  powers  did  Poland.  Let  America  add  Mexico  to 
Texas,  and  pile  Cuba  upon  Canada  ;  let  the  English  overswarm 
all  India,  and  hang  out  their  blazing  banner  from  the  sun ;  two 
thirds  of  this  terraqueous  globe  are  the  Nantucketer's.  For  the 
sea  is  his  ;  he  owns  it,  as  Emperors  own  empires ;  other  seamen 
having  but  a  right  of  way  through  it.  Merchant  ships  are  but 
extension  bridges ;  armed  ones  but  floating  forts  ;  even  pirates 
and  privateers,  though  following  the  sea  as  highwaymen  the 
road,  they  but  plunder  other  ships,  other  fragments  of  the  land 
like  themselves,  without  seeking  to  draw  their  living  from  the 
bottomless  deep  itself.  The  Nantucketer,  he  alone  resides  and 
riots  on  the  sea  ;  he  alone,  in  Bible  language,  goes  down  to  it 
in  ships  ;  to  and  fro  ploughing  it  as  his  own  special  plantation. 


CHOWDER.  71 


There  is  his  home ;  there  lies  his  business,  which  a  Noah's 
flood  would  not  interrupt,  though  it  overwhelmed  all  the  millions 
in  China.  He  lives  on  the  sea,  as  prairie  cocks  in  the  prairie  ; 
he  hides  among  the  waves,  he  climbs  them  as  chamois  hunters 
climb  the  Alps.  For  years  he  knows  not  the  land ;  so  that 
when  he  comes  to  it  at  last,  it  smells  like  another  world,  more 
strangely  than  the  moon  would  to  an  Earthsman.  With  the 
landless  gull,  that  at  sunset  folds  her  wings  and  is  rocked  to 
sleep  between  billows  ;  so  at  nightfall,  the  Nantucketer,  out  of 
sight  of  land,  furls  his  sails,  and  lays  him  to  his  rest,  while 
under  his  very  pillow  rush  herds  of  walruses  and  whales. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

CHOWDER. 

It  was  quite  late  in  the  evening  when  the  little  Moss  came 
snugly  to  anchor,  and  Queequeg  and  I  went  ashore ;  so  we  could 
attend  to  no  business  that  day,  at  least  none  but  a  supper  and 
a  bed.  The  landlord  of  the  Spouter-Inn  had  recommended  us 
to  his  cousin  Hosea  Hussey  of  the  Try  Pots,  whom  he  asserted  to 
be  the  proprietor  of  one  of  the  best  kept  hotels  in  all  Nantucket, 
and  moreover  he  had  assured  us  that  cousin  Hosea,  as  he  called 
him,  was  famous  for  his  chowders.  In  short,  he  plainly  hinted 
that  we  could  not  possibly  do  better  than  try  pot-luck  at  the 
Try  Pots.  But  the  directions  he  had  given  us  about  keeping  a 
yellow  warehouse  on  our  starboard  hand  till  we  opened  a  white 
church  to  the  larboard,  and  then  keeping  that  on  the  larboard 
hand  till  we  made  a  corner  three  points  to  the  starboard,  and 
that  done,  then  ask  the  first  man  we  met  where  the  place  was : 
these  crooked  directions  of  his  very  much  puzzled  us  at  first, 
especially  as,  at  the  outset,  Queequeg  insisted  that  the  yellow- 
warehouse — our  first  point  of  departure — must  be  left  on  the  lar- 


72  CHOWDER, 


board  hand,  whereas  I  Lad  understood  Peter  Coffin  to  say  it 
was  on  the  starboard.  However,  by  dint  of  beating  about  a 
little  in  the  dark,  and  now  and  then  knocking  up  a  peaceable 
inhabitant  to  inquire  the  way,  we  at  last  came  to  something 
which  there  was  no  mistaking. 

Two  enormous  wooden  pots  painted  black,  and  suspended  by 
asses'  ears,  swung  from  the  cross-trees  of  an  old  top-mast, 
planted  in  front  of  an  old  doorway.  The  horns  of  the  cross- 
trees  were  sawed  off  on  the  other  side,  so  that  this  old  top-mast 
looked  not  a  little  like  a  gallows.  Perhaps  I  was  over  sensi- 
tive to  such  imj3ressions  at  the  time,  but  I  could  not  help  staring 
at  this  gallows  with  a  vague  misgiving.  A  sort  of  crick  was  in 
my  neck  as  I  gazed  up  to  the  two  remaining  horns ;  yes,  two  of 
them,  one  for  Queequeg,  and  one  for  me.  It's  ominous,  thinks 
I.  A  Coffin  my  Innkeeper  upon  landing  in  my  first  whaling 
port ;  .tombstones  staring  at  me  in  the  whalemen's  chapel ;  and 
here  a  gallows  !  and  a  pair  of  prodigious  black  pots  too  !  Are 
these  last  throwing  out  oblique  hints  touching  Tophet  ? 

I  was  called  from  these  reflections  by  the  sight  of  a  freckled 
woman  with  yellow  hair  and  a  yellow  gown,  standing  in  the 
porch  of  the  inn,  under  a  dull  red  lamp  swinging  there,  that 
looked  much  like  an  injured  eye,  and  carrying  on  a  brisk  scold- 
ing with  a  man  in  a  purple  woollen  shirt. 

"  Get  along  with  ye,"  said  she  to  the  man,  "  or  I'll  be  comb- 
ing ye  ! " 

"  Come  on,  Queequeg,"  said  I,  "  all  right.  There's  Mrs. 
Hussey." 

And  so  it  turned  out ;  Mr.  Hosea  Hussey  being  from  home, 
but  leaving  Mrs.  Hussey  entirely  competent  to  attend  to  all  his 
affairs.  Upon  making  known  our  desires  for  a  supper  and  a 
bed,  Mrs.  Hussey,  postponing  further  scolding  for  the  present, 
ushered  us  into  a  little  room,  and  seating  us  at  a  table  spread 
with  the  relics  of  a  recently  concluded  repast,  turned  round  to  us 
and  said—"  Clam  or  Cod  ? " 


CHOWDER.  73 


"  What's  that  about  Cods,  ma'am  ?"  said  I,  with  much  politeness. 

"  Clam  or  Cod  ? "  she  repeated. 

"  A  clam  for  supper  ?  a  cold  clam  ;  is  that  what  you  mean, 
Mi's.  Hussey  ? "  says  I ;  "  but  that's  a  rather  cold  and  clammy 
reception  in  the  winter  time,  ain't  it,  Mrs.  Hussey  ? " 

But  being  in  a  great  hurry  to  resume  scolding  the  man  in  the 
purple  shirt,  who  was  waiting  for  it  in  the  entry,  and  seeming 
to  hear  nothing  but  the  word  "clam,"  Mrs.  Hussey  hurried 
towards  an  open  door  leading  to  the  kitchen,  and  bawling  out 
"  clam  for  two,"  disappeared. 

"  Queequeg,"  said  I,  "  do  you  think  that  we  can  make  out  a' 
supper  for  us  both  on  one  clam  ? " 

However,  a  warm  savory  steam  from  the  kitchen  served  to 
belie  the  apparently  cheerless  prospect  before  us.  But  when 
that  smoking  chowder  came  in,  the  mystery  was  delightfully 
explained.  Oh,  sweet  friends  !  hearken  to  me.  It  was  made  of 
small  juicy  clams,  scarcely  bigger  than  hazel  nuts,  mixed  with 
pounded  ship  biscuit,  and  salted  pork  cut  up  into  little  flakes  ; 
the  whole  enriched  with  butter,  and  plentifully  seasoned  with 
pepper  and  salt.  Our  appetites  being  sharpened  by  the  frosty 
voyage,  and  in  particular,  Queequeg  seeing  his  favorite  fishing 
food  before  him,  and  the  chowder  being  surpassingly  excellent,  we 
despatched  it  with  great  expedition :  when  leaning  back  a 
moment  and  bethinking  me  of  Mrs.  Hussey's  clam  and  cod  an- 
nouncement, I  thought  I  would  try  a  little  experiment.  Stepping 
to  the  kitchen  door,  I  uttered  the  word  "  cod  "  with  great  em- 
phasis, and  resumed  my  seat.  In  a  few  moments  the  savory 
steam  came  forth  again,  but  with  a  different  flavor,  and  in  good 
time  a  fine  cod-chowder  was  placed  before  us. 

We  resumed  business ;  and  while  plying  our  spoons  in  the 
bowl,  thinks  I  to  myself,  I  wonder  now  if  this  here  has  any  effect 
on  the  head  ?  What's  that  stultifying  saying  about  chowder- 
headed  people  ?  "  But  look,  Queequeg,  ain't  that  a  live  eel  in 
your  bowl  ?     Where's  your  harpoon  ?" 

4 


74  CHOWDER. 


Fishiest  of  all  fishy  places  was  the  Try  Pots,  which  well 
deserved  its  name ;  for  the  pots  there  were  always  boiling 
chowders.  Chowder  for  breakfast,  and  chowder  for  dinner,  and 
chowder  for  supper,  till  you  began  to  look  for  fish-bones  coming 
through  your  clothes.  The  area  before  the  house  was  paved 
with  clam-shells.  Mrs.  Hussey  wore  a  polished  necklace  of 
codfish  vertebra ;  and  Hosea  Hussey  had  his  account  books 
bound  in  superior  old  shark-skin.  There  was  a  fishy  flavor  to 
the  milk,  too,  which  I  could  not  at  all  account  for,  till  one  morn- 
ing happening  to  take  a  stroll  along  the  beach  among  some 
fishermen's  boats,  I  saw  Hosea's  brindled  cow  feeding  on  fish 
remnants,  and  marching  along  the  sand  with  each  foot  in  a  cod's 
decapitated  head,  looking  very  slip-shod,  I  assure  ye. 

Supper  concluded,  we  received  a  lamp,  and  directions  from 
Mrs.  Hussey  concerning  the  nearest  way  to  bed ;  but,  as 
Queequeg  was  about  to  precede  me  up  the  stairs,  the  lady 
reached  forth  her  arm,  and  demanded  his  harpoon ;  she  allowed 
no  harpoon  in  her  chambers.  "Why  not?"  said  I ;  "every 
true  whaleman  sleeps  with  his  harpoon — but  why  not?'' 
"  Because  it's  dangerous,"  says  she.  "  Ever  since  young  Stiggs 
coming  from  that  unfort'nt  v'y'ge  of  his,  when  he  was  gone 
four  years  and  a  half,  with  only  three  barrels  of  He,  was  found 
dead  in  my  first  floor  back,  with  his  harpoon  in  his  side ;  ever 
since  then  I  allow  no  boarders  to  take  sich  dangerous  weepons 
in*  their  rooms  at  night.  So,  Mr.  Queequeg"  (for  she  had  learned 
his  name),  "I  will  just  take  this  here  iron,  and  keep  it  for  you 
till  morning.  But  the  chowder ;  clam  or  cod  to-morrow  for 
breakfast,  men  ?" 

"  Both,"  says  I ;  "  and  let's  have  a  couple  of  smoked  herring 
by  way  of  variety." 


THE    SHIP.  75 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


In  bed  we  concocted  our  plans  for  the  morrow.  But  to  my 
surprise  and  no  small  concern,  Queequeg  now  gave  me  to  under- 
stand, that  he  had  been  diligently  consulting  Yojo — the  name 
of  his  black  little  god — and  Yojo  had  told  him  two  or  three 
times  over,  and  strongly  insisted  upon  it  everyway,  that  instead 
of  our  going  together  among  the  whaling-fleet  in  harbor,  and 
in  concert  selecting  our  craft ;  instead  of  this,  I  say,  Yojo 
earnestly  enjoined  that  the  selection  of  the  ship  should  rest 
wholly  with  me,  inasmuch  as  Yojo  purposed  befriending  us ; 
and,  in  order  to  do  so,  had  already  pitched  upon  a  vessel, 
which,  if  left  to  myself,  I,  Ishmael,  should  infallibly  light  upon, 
for  all  the  world  as  though  it  had  turned  out  by  chance ;  and 
in  that  vessel  I  must  immediately  ship  myself,  for  the  present 
irrespective  of  Queequeg. 

I  have  forgotten  to  mention  that,  in  many  things,  Queequeg 
placed  great  confidence  in  the  excellence  of  Yojo's  judgment 
and  surprising  forecast  of  things  ;  and  cherished  Yojo  with  consi- 
derable esteem,  as  a  rather  good  sort  of  god,  who  perhaps  meant 
well  enough  upon  the  whole,  but  in  all  cases  did  not  succeed  in 
his  benevolent  designs. 

Now,  this  plan  of  Queequeg's,  or  rather  Yojo's,  touching  the  se- 
lection of  our  craft ;  I  did  not  like  that  plan  at  all.  I  had  not  a 
little  relied  upon  Queequeg's  sagacity  to  point  out  the  whaler 
best  fitted  to  carry  us  and  our  fortunes  securely.  But  as  all  my 
remonstrances  produced  no  effect  upon  Queequeg,  I  was  obliged 
to  acquiesce ;  and  accordingly  prepared  to  set  about  this  business 
with  a  determined  rushing  sort  of  energy  and  vigor,  that  should 


76  THE    SHIP, 


quickly  settle  that  trifling  little  affair.  Next  morning  early, 
leaving  Queequeg  shut  up  with  Yojo  in  our  little  bedroom — for 
it  seemed  that  it  was  some  sort  of  Lent  or  Ramadan,  or  day  of 
fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer  with  Queequeg  and  Yojo  that 
day ;  how  it  was  I  never  could  find  out,  for,  though  I  applied 
myself  to  it  several  times,  I  never  could  master  his  liturgies  and 
XXXIX  Articles — leaving  Queequeg,  then,  fasting  on  his 
tomahawk  pipe,  and  Yojo  warming  himself  at  his  sacrificial  fire 
of  shavings,  I  sallied  out  among  the  shipping.  After  much 
prolonged  sauntering  and  many  random  inquiries,  I  learnt  that 
there  were  three  ships  up  for  three-years'  voyages — The  Devil- 
dam,  the  Tit-bit.  and  the  Pequod.  Devil-Dam,  I  do  not  know 
the  origin  of;  Tit-bit  is  obvious ;  Pequod,  you  will  no  doubt 
remember,  was  the  name  of  a  celebrated  tribe  of  Massachusetts 
Indians,  now  extinct  as  the  ancient  Medes.  I  peered  and  pryed 
about  the  Devil-Dam ;  from  her,  hopped  over  to  the  Tit-bit ;  and, 
finally,  going  on  board  the  Pequod,  looked  around  her  for  a 
moment,  and  then  decided  that  this  was  the  very  ship  for  us. 

You  may  have  seen  many  a  quaint  craft  in  your  day,  for 
aught  I  know  ; — square-toed  luggers  ;  mountainous  Japanese 
junks ;  butter-box  galliots,  and  what  not ;  but  take  my  word  for 
it,  you  never  saw  such  a  rare  old  craft  as  this  same  rare  old 
Pequod.  She  was  a  ship  of  the  old  school,  rather  small  if  any- 
thing ;  with  an  old  fashioned  claw-footed  look  about  her.  Long 
seasoned  and  weather-stained  in  the  typhoons  and  calms  of  all 
four  oceans,  her  old  hull's  complexion  was  darkened  like  a  French 
grenadier's,  who  has  alike  fought  in  Egypt  and  Siberia.  Her  vene- 
rable bows  looked  bearded.  Her  masts — cut  somewhere  on  the 
coast  of  Japan,  where  her  original  ones  were  lost  overboard  in 
a  gale — her  masts  stood  stiffly  up  like  the  spines  of  the 
three  old  kings  of  Cologne.  Her  ancient  decks  were  worn  and 
wrinkled,  like  the  pilgrim-worshipped  flag-stone  in  Canterbury 
Cathedral  where  Beckett  bled.  But  to  all  these  her  old  anti- 
quities, were  added  new  and  marvellous  features,  pertaining  to 


THE    SHIP.  77 


the  wild  business  that  for  more  than  half  a  century  she  had 
followed.  Old  Captain  Peleg,  many  years  her  chief-mate,  before 
he  commanded  another  vessel  of  his  own,  and  now  a  retired 
seaman,  and  one  of  the  principal  owners  of  the  Pequod, — this 
old  Peleg,  during  the  term  of  his  chief-mateship,  had  built 
upon  her  original  grotesqueness,  and  inlaid  it,  all  over,  with  a 
quaintness  both  of  material  and  device,  unmatched  by  anything 
except  it  be  Thorkill-Hake's  carved  buckler  or  bedstead.  She 
was  apparelled  like  any  barbaric  Ethiopian  emperor,  his  neck 
heavy  with  pendants  of  polished  ivoiy.  She  was  a  thing  of 
trophies.  A  cannibal  of  a  craft,  tricking  herself  forth  in  the 
chased  bones  of  her  enemies.  All  round,  her  unpanelled,  open 
bulwarks  were  garnished  like  one  continuous  jaw,  with  the  long 
sharp  teeth  of  the  sperm  whale,  inserted  there  for  pins,  to 
fasten  her  old  hempen  thews  and  tendons  to.  Those  thews  ran 
not  through  base  blocks  of  land  wood,  but  deftly  travelled 
over  sheaves  of  sea-ivory.  Scorning  a  turnstile  wheel  at  her 
reverend  helm,  she  sported  there  a  tiller  ;  and  that  tiller  was  in 
one  mass,  curiously  carved  from  the  long  narrow  lower  jaw  of 
her  hereditary  foe.  The  helmsman  who  steered  by  that  tiller 
in  a  tempest,  felt  like  the  Tartar,  when  he  holds  back  his  fiery 
steed  by  clutching  its  jaw.  A  noble  craft,  but  somehow  a  most 
melancholy  !     All  noble  things  are  touched  with  that. 

Now  when  I  looked  about  the  quarter-deck,  for  some  one 
having  authority,  in  order  to  propose  myself  as  a  candidate  for 
the  voyage,  at  first  I  saw  nobody  ;  but  I  could  not  well  over- 
look a  strange  sort  of  tent,  or  rather  wigwam,  pitched  a  little 
behind  the  main-mast.  It  seemed  only  a  temporary  erection 
used  in  port.  It  was  of  a  conical  shape,  some  ten  feet  high  ; 
consisting  of  the  long,  huge  slabs  of  limber  black  bone  taken 
from  the  middle  and  highest  part  of  the  jaws  of  the  right- 
whale.  Planted  with  their  broad  ends  on  the  deck,  a  circle  of 
these  slabs  laced  together,  mutually  sloped  towards  each  other, 
and  at  the  apex  united  in  a  tufted  point,  where  the  loose  hairy 


78  THE    SHIP. 


fibres  waved  to  and  fro  like  the  top-knot  on  some  old  Pottowot- 
taraie  Sachem's  head.  A  triangular  opening  faced  towards  the 
bows  of  the  ship,  so  that  the  insider  commanded  a  complete 
view  forward. 

And  half  concealed  in  this  queer  tenement,  I  at  length  found 
one  who  by  his  aspect  seemed  to  have  authority  ;  and  who,  it 
being  noon,  and  the  ship's  work  suspended,  was  now  enjoying 
respite  from  the  burden  of  command.  He  was  seated  on 
an  old-fashioned  oaken  chair,  wriggling  all  over  with  curious 
carving ;  and  the  bottom  of  which  was  formed  of  a  stout 
interlacing  of  the  same  elastic  stuff  of  which  the  wigwam  was 
constructed. 

There  was  nothing  so  very  particular,  perhaps,  about  the 
appearance  of  the  elderly  man  I  saw ;  he  was  brown  and 
brawny,  like  most  old  seamen,  and  heavily  rolled  up  in  blue 
pilot-cloth,  cut  in  the  Quaker  style ;  only  there  was  a  fine  and 
almost  microscopic  net-work  of  the  minutest  wrinkles  interlacing 
round  his  eyes,  which  must  have  arisen  from  his  continual  sail- 
ings in  many  hard  gales,  and  always  looking  to  windward ; — 
for  this  causes  the  muscles  about  the  eyes  to  become  pursed 
together.     Such  eye-wrinkles  are  very  effectual  in  a  scowl. 

"  Is  this  the  Captain  of  the  Pequod  ?"  said  I,  advancing  to 
the  door  of  the  tent. 

"  Supposing  it  be  the  Captain  of  the  Pequod,  what  dost  thou 
want  of  him  ?"  he  demanded. 

"  I  was  thinking  of  shipping." 

"  Thou  wast,  wast  thou  ?  I  see  thou  art  no  Nantucketer — 
ever  been  in  a  stove  boat  ?" 

"  No,  Sir,  I  never  have." 

"  Dost  know  nothing  at  all  about  whaling,  I  dare  say — eh  ?" 

"  Nothing,  Sir ;  but  I  have  no  doubt  I  shall  soon  learn. 
I've  been  several  voyages  in  the  merchant  service,  and  I  think 
that " 

"  Merchant  service  be  damned.     Talk  not  that  lingo  to  me. 


THE    SHIP.  79 


Dost  see  that  leg  ? — I'll  take  that  leg  away  from  thy  stern,  if 
ever  thou  talkest  of  the  marchant  service  to  me  again.  Mar- 
chant  service  indeed !  I  suppose  now  ye  feel  considerable 
proud  of  having  served  in  those  marchant  ships.  But  flukes  ! 
man,  what  makes  thee  want  to  go  a  whaling,  eh  ? — it  looks  a 
little  suspicious,  don't  it,  eh  ? — Hast  not  been  a  pirate,  hast 
thou  ? — Didst  not  rob  thy  last  Captain,  didst  thou  ? — Dost  not 
think  of  murdering  the  officers  when  thou  gettest  to  sea  ?" 

I  protested  my  innocence  of  these  things.  I  saw  that  under 
the  mask  of  these  half  humorous  inuendoes,  this  old  seaman, 
as  an  insulated  Quakerish  Nantucketer,  was  full  of  his  insular 
prejudices,  and  rather  distrustful  of  all  aliens,  unless  they  hailed 
from  Cape  Cod  or  the  Vineyard. 

"  But  what  takes  thee  a-whaling  ?  I  want  to  know  that  before 
I  think  of  shipping  ye." 

.  "  Well,  sir,  I  want  to  see  what  whaling  is.  I  want  to  see  the 
world." 

"  Want  to  see  what  whaling  is,  eh  ?  Have  ye  clapped  eye 
on  Captain  Ahab  ? " 

"  Who  is  Captain  Ahab,  sir  ? " 

"  Aye,  aye,  I  thought  so.  Captain  Ahab  is  the  Captain  of 
this  ship." 

"  I  am  mistaken  then.  I  thought  I  was  speaking  to  the 
Captain  himself." 

"  Thou  art  speaking  to  Captain  Peleg — that's  who  ye  are 
speaking  to,  young  man.  It  belongs  to  me  and  Captain  Bildad 
to  see  the  Pequod  fitted  out  for  the  voyage,  and  supplied  with 
all  her  needs,  including  crew.  We  are  part  owners  and  agents. 
But  as  I  was  going  to  say,  if  thou  wantest  to  know  what  whal- 
ing is,  as  thou  tellest  ye  do,  I  can  put  ye  in  a  way  of  finding  it 
out  before  ye  bind  yourself  to  it,  past  backing  out.  Clap  eye 
on  Captain  Ahab,  young  man,  and  thou  wilt  find  that  he  has 
only  one  leg." 

"  What  do  you  mean,  sir  ?  Was  the  other  one  lost  by  a  whale  ?" 


80  THE    SHIP. 

"  Lost  by  a  whale  !  Young  man,  come  nearer  to  me  :  it  was 
devoured,  chewed  up,  crunched  by  the  monstrousest  parmacetty 
that  ever  chipped  a  boat ! — ah,  ah  !  " 

I  was  a  little  alarmed  by  his  energy,  perhaps  also  a  little 
touched  at  the  hearty  grief  in  his  concluding  exclamation,  but 
said  as  calmly  as  I  could,  "  What  you  say  is  no  doubt  true 
enough,  sir ;  but  how  could  I  know  there  was  any  peculiar 
ferocity  in  that  particular  whale,  though  indeed  I  might  have 
inferred  as  much  from  the  simple  fact  of  the  accident.'' 

"  Look  ye  now,  young  man,  thy  lungs  are  a  sort  of  soft,  d'ye 
see ;  thou  dost  not  talk  shark  a  bit.  Sure,  ye've  been  to  sea 
before  now ;  sure  of  that  ? " 

"  Sir,"  said  I,  "  I  thought  I  told  you  that  I  had  been  four 
voyages  in  the  merchant " 

"  Hard  down  out  of  that !  Mind  what  I  said  about  the  mar- 
chant  service — don't  aggravate  me — I  won't  have  it.  But  let 
us  understand  each  other.  I  have  given  thee  a  hint  about  what 
whaling  is  ;  do  ye  yet  feel  inclined  for  it  ?" 

"  I  do,  sir." 

"  Very  good.  Now,  art  thou  the  man  to  pitch  a  harpoon 
down  a  live  whale's  throat,  and  then  jump  after  it  ?  Answer, 
quick  !" 

"  I  am,  sir,  if  it  should  be  positively  indispensable  to  do  so  ; 
not  to  be  got  rid  of,  that  is ;  which  I  don't  take  to  be  the  fact. " 

"  Good  again.  Now  then,  thou  not  only  wantest  to  go  a- 
whaling,  to  find  out  by  experience  what  whaling  is,  but  ye  also 
want  to  go  in  order  to  see  the  world  ?  Was  not  that  what  ye 
said  ?  I  thought  so.  Well  then,  just  step  forward  there,  and 
take  a  peep  over  the  weather-bow,  and  then  back  to  me  and 
tell  me  what  ye  see  there." 

For  a  moment  I  stood  a  little  puzzled  by  this  curious  request, 
not  knowing  exactly  how  to  take  it,  whether  humorously  or  in 
earnest.  But  concentrating  all  his  crow's  feet  into  one  scowl, 
Captain  Peleg  started  me  on  the  errand. 


THE    SHIP.  81 


Going  forward  and  glancing  over  the  weather  bow,  I  per- 
ceived that  the  ship  swinging  to  her  anchor  with  the  flood-tide, 
was  now  obliquely  pointing  towards  the  open  ocean.  The 
prospect  was  unlimited,  but  exceedingly  monotonous  and  for- 
bidding ;  not  the  slightest  variety  that  I  could  see. 

"  Well,  what's  the  report  ? "  said  Peleg  when  I  came  back ; 
"  what  did  ye  see  ? " 

"  Not  much,"  I  replied — "  nothing  but  water  ;  considerable 
horizon  though,  and  there's  a  squall  coming  up,  I  think." 

"  Well,  what  dost  thou  think  then  of  seeing  the  world  ?  Do 
ye  wish  to  go  round  Cape  Horn  to  see  any  more  of  it,  eh  ? 
Can't  ye  see  the  world  where  you  stand  ? " 

I  was  a  little  staggered,  but  go  a-whaling  I  must,  and  I 
would ;  and  the  Pequod  was  as  good  a  ship  as  any — I  thought 
the  best — and  all  this  I  now  repeated  to  Peleg.  Seeing  me  so 
determined,  he  expressed  his  willingness  to  ship  me. 

"And  thou  mayest  as  well  sign  the  papers  right  off,"  he 
added — "  come  along  with  ye."  And  so  saying,  he  led  the  way 
below  deck  into  the  cabin. 

Seated  on  the  transom  was  what  seemed  to  me  a  most 
uncommon  and  surprising  figure.  It  turned  out  to  be  Captain 
Bildad,  who  along  with  Captain  Peleg  was  one  of  the  largest 
owners  of  the  vessel ;  the  other  shares,  as  is  sometimes  the  case 
in  these  ports,  being  held  by  a  crowd  of  old  annuitants ; 
widows,  fatherless  children,  and  chancery  wards  ;  each  owning 
about  the  value  of  a  timber  head,  or  a  foot  of  plank,  or  a  nail 
or  two  in  the  ship.  People  in  Nantucket  invest  their  money  in 
whaling  vessels,  the  same  way  that  you  do  yours  in  approved 
state  stocks  bringing  in  good  interest. 

Now,  Bildad,  like  Peleg,  and  indeed  many  other  Nantucket- 
ers,  was  a  Quaker,  the  island  having  been  originally  settled  by 
that  sect ;  and  to  this  day  its  inhabitants  in  general  retain  in 
an  uncommon  measure  the  peculiarities  of  the  Quaker,  only 
variously  and  anomalously  modified  by  things  altogether  alien 


82  THE    SHIP. 


and  heterogeneous.  For  some  of  these  same  Quakers  are  the 
most  sanguinary  of  all  sailors  and  whale-hunters.  They  are 
fighting  Quakers  ;  they  are  Quakers  with  a  vengeance. 

So  that  there  are  instances  among  them  of  men,  who,  named 
with  Scripture  names — a  singularly  common  fashion  on  the 
island — and  in  childhood  naturally  imbibing  the  stately  dramatic 
thee  and  thou  of  the  Quaker  idiom ;  still,  from  the  audacious, 
daring,  and  boundless  adventure  of  their  subsequent  lives, 
strangely  blend  with  these  unoutgrown  peculiarities,  a  thousand 
bold  dashes  of  character,  not  unworthy  a  Scandinavian  sea-king, 
or  a  poetical  Pagan  Roman.  And  when  these  things  unite  in  a 
man  of  greatly  superior  natural  force,  with  a  globular  brain 
and  a  ponderous  heart ;  who  has  also  by  the  stillness  and  seclu- 
sion of  many  long  night-watches  in  the  remotest  waters,  and 
beneath  constellations  never  seen  here  at  the  north,  been  led  to 
think  untraditionally  and  independently ;  receiving  all  nature's 
sweet  or  savage  impressions  fresh  from  her  own  virgin  voluntary 
and  confiding  breast,  and  thereby  chiefly,  but  with  some  help 
from  accidental  advantages,  to  learn  a  bold  and  nervous  lofty 
language — that  man  makes  one  in  a  whole  nation's  census — a 
mighty  pageant  creature,  formed  for  noble  tragedies.  Nor  will 
it  at  all  detract  from  him,  dramatically  regarded,  if  either  by 
birth  or  other  circumstances,  he  have  what  seems  a  half  wilful 
over-ruling  morbidness  at  the  bottom  of  his  nature.  For  all 
men  tragically  great  are  made  so  through  a  certain  morbidness. 
Be  sure  of  this,  0  young  ambition,  all  mortal  greatness  is  but 
disease.  But,  as  yet  we  have  not  to  do  with  such  an  one,  but 
with  quite  another ;  and  still  a  man,  who,  if  indeed  peculiar,  it 
only  results  again  from  another  phase  of  the  Quaker,  modified 
by  individual  circumstances. 

Like  Captain  Peleg,  Captain  Bildad  was  a  well-to-do,  retired 
whaleman.  But  unlike  Captain  Peieg — who  cared  not  a  rush 
for  what  are  called  serious  things,  and  indeed  deemed  those 
self-same  serious  things  the  veriest  of  all  trifles — Captain  Bildad 


THE    SHIP.  83 


had  not  only  been  originally  educated  according  to  the  strictest 
sect  of  Nantucket  Quakerism,  but  all  his  subsequent  ocean  life, 
and  the  sight  of  many  unclad,  lovely  island  creatures,  round  the 
Horn — all  that  had  not  moved  this  native  born  Quaker  one 
single  jot,  had  not  so  much  as  altered  one  angle  of  his  vest. 
Still,  for  all  this  immutableness,  was  there  some  lack  of  common 
consistency  about  worthy  Captain  Pel  eg.  Though  refusing,  from 
conscientious  scruples,  to  bear  arms  against  land  invaders,  yet 
himself  had  inimitably  invaded  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific ;  and 
though  a  sworn  foe  to  human  bloodshed,  yet  had  he  in  his  straight- 
bodied  coat,  spilled  tuns  upon  tuns  of  leviathan  gore.  How 
now  in  the  contemplative  evening  of  his  days,  the  pious  Bildad 
reconciled  these  things  in  the  reminiscence,  I  do  not  know ;  but 
it  did  not  seem  to  concern  him  much,  and  very  probably  he  had 
long  since  come  to  the  sage  and  sensible  conclusion  that  a  man's 
religion  is  one  thing,  and  this  practical  world  quite  another. 
This  world  pays  dividends.  Rising  from  a  little  cabin-boy  in 
short  clothes  of  the  drabbest  drab,  to  a  harpooneer  in  a  broad 
shad-bellied  waistcoat ;  from  that  becoming  boat-header,  chief- 
mate,  and  captain,  and  finally  a  ship-owner ;  Bildad,  as  I 
hinted  before,  had  concluded  his  adventurous  career  by  wholly 
retiring  from  active  life  at  the  goodly  age  of  sixty,  and  dedicat- 
ing his  remaining  days  to  the  quiet  receiving  of  his  well-earned 
income. 

Now  Bildad,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  had  the  reputation  of  being 
an  incorrigible  old  hunks,  and  in  his  sea-going  days,  a  bitter, 
hard  task-master.  They  told  me  in  Nantucket,  though  it  cer- 
tainly seems  a  curious  story,  that  when  he  sailed  the  old  Categut 
whaleman,  his  crew,  upon  arriving  home,  were  mostly  all  carried 
ashore  to  the  hospital,  sore  exhausted  and  worn  out.  For 
a  pious  man,  especially  for  a  Quaker,  he  was  certainly  rather 
hard-hearted,  to  say  the  least.  He  never  used  to  swear,  though, 
at  his  men,  they  said  ;  but  somehow  he  got  an  inordinate  quan- 
tity of  cruel,  unmitigated  hard  work   out  of  them.       When 


84  THE    SHIP. 


Biklad  was  a  chief-mate,  to  have  his  drab-colored  eye  intently 
looking  at  you,  made  you  feel  completely  nervous,  till  you  could 
clutch  something — a  hammer  or  a  marling-spike,  and  go  to 
work  like  mad,  at  something  or  other,  never  mind  what.  Indo- 
lence and  idleness  perished  from  before  him.  His  own  person 
was  the  exact  embodiment  of  his  utilitarian  character.  On  his 
long,  gaunt  body,  he  earned  no  spare  flesh,  no  superfluous 
beard,  his  chin  having  a  soft,  economical  nap  to  it,  like  the  worn 
nap  of  his  broad-brimmed  hat. 

Such,  then,  was  the  person  that  I  saw  seated  on  the  transom 
when  I  followed  Captain  Peleg  down  into  the  cabin.  The  space 
between  the  decks  was  small ;  and  there,  bolt-upright,  sat  old 
Bildad,  who  always  sat  so,  and  never  leaned,  and  this  to  save  his 
coat  tails.  His  broad-brim  was  placed  beside  him ;  his  legs 
were  stiffly  crossed;  his  drab  vesture  was  buttoned  up  to 
his  chin ;  and  spectacles  on  nose,  he  seemed  absorbed  in  read- 
ing from  a  ponderous  volume. 

"  Bildad,"  cried  Captain  Peleg,  "  at  it  again,  Bildad,  eh  ? 
Ye  have  been  studying  those  Scriptures,  now,  for  the  last  thirty 
years,  to  my  certain  knowledge.     How  far  ye  got,  Bildad  ?" 

As  if  long  habituated  to  such  profane  talk  from  his  old  shipmate, 
Bildad,  without  noticing  his  present  irreverence,  quietly  looked 
up,  and  seeing  me,  glanced  again  inquiringly  towards  Peleg. 

"  He  says  he's  our  man,  Bildad,"  said  Peleg,  u  he  wants 
to  ship." 

"  Dost  thee  ?"  said  Bildad,  in  a  hollow  tone,  and  turning 
round  to  me. 

"  I  dost"  said  I  unconsciously,  he  was  so  intense  a  Quaker. 

"What  do  ye  think  of  him,  Bildad  F  said  Peleg. 

"  He'll  do,"  said  Bildad,  eyeing  me,  and  then  went  on  spell- 
ing away  at  his  book  in  a  mumbling  tone  quite  audible. 

I  thought  him  the  queerest  old  Quaker  I  ever  saw,  espe- 
cially as  Peleg,  his  friend  and  old  shipmate,  seemed  such  a  blus- 
terer.    But  I  said  nothing,  only   looking  round  me  sharply. 


THE    SHIP.  85 


Peleg  now  threw  open  a  chest,  and  drawing  forth  the  ship's 
articles,  placed  pen  and  ink  before  him,  and  seated  himself  at  a 
little  table.  I  began  to  think  it  was  high  time  to  settle  with 
myself  at  what  terms  I  would  be  willing  to  engage  for  the  voy- 
age. I  was  already  aware  that  in  the  whaling  business  they  paid 
no  wages  ;  but  all  hands,  including  the  captain,  received  certain 
shares  of  the  profits  called  lays,  and  that  these  lays  were  pro- 
portioned to  the  degree  of  importance  pertaining  to  the  respec- 
tive duties  of  the  ship's  company.  I  was  also  aware  that  being 
a  green  hand  at  whaling,  my  own  lay  would  not  be  very  large ; 
but  considering  that  I  was  used  to  the  sea,  could  steer  a  ship, 
splice  a  rope,  and  all  that,  I  made  no  doubt  that  from  all  I  had 
heard  I  should  be  offered  at  least  the  275th  lay — that  is,  the 
275th  part  of  the  clear  nett  proceeds  of  the  voyage,  whatever 
that  might  eventually  amount  to.  And  though  the  275th  lay 
was  what  they  call  a  rather  long  lay,  yet  it  was  better  than 
nothing ;  and  if  we  had  a  lucky  voyage,  might  pretty  nearly 
pay  for  the  clothing  I  would  wear  out  on  it,  not  to  speak  of  my 
three  years'  beef  and  board,  for  which  I  would  not  have  to  pay 
one  stiver. 

It  might  be  thought  that  this  was  a  poor  way  to  accumulate 
a  princely  fortune — and  so  it  was,  a  very  poor  way  indeed. 
But  I  am  one  of  those  that  never  take  on  about  princely  for- 
tunes, and  am  quite  content  if  the  world  is  ready  to  board  and 
lodge  me,  while  I  am  putting  up  at  this  grim  sign  of  the 
Thunder  Cloud.  Upon  the  whole,  I  thought  that  the  275th 
lay  would  be  about  the  fair  thing,  but  would  not  have  been 
surprised  had  I  been  offered  the  200th,  considering  I  was  of  a 
broad-shouldered  make. 

But  one  thing,  nevertheless,  that  made  me  a  little  distrustful 
about  receiving  a  generous  share  of  the  profits  was  this : 
Ashore,  I  had  heard  something  of  both  Captain  Peleg  and  his 
unaccountable  old  crony  Bildad ;  how  that  they  being  the  principal 
proprietors  of  the  Pequod,  therefore  the  other  and  more  inconsi- 


86  THE    SHIP. 


derable  and  scattered  owners,  left  nearly  the  whole  management 
of  the  ship's  affairs  to  these  two.  And  I  did  not  know  but  what 
the  stingy  old  Bildad  might  have  a  mighty  deal  to  say  about 
shipping  hands,  especially  as  I  now  found  him  on  board  the 
Pequod,  quite  at  home  there  in  the  cabin,  and  reading  his  Bible 
as  if  at  his  own  fireside.  Now  while  Peleg  was  vainly  trying 
to  mend  a  pen  with  his  jack-knife,  old  Bildad,  to  my  no  small 
surprise,  considering  that  he  was  such  an  interested  party  in 
these  proceedings ;  Bildad  never  heeded  us,  but  went  on 
mumbling  to  himself  out  of  his  book,  "  Lay  not  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  upon  earth,  where  moth — " 

"  Well,  Captain  Bildad,"  interrupted  Peleg,  "  what  d'ye  say, 
what  lay  shall  we  give  this  young  man  ?" 

"  Thou  knowest  best,"  was  the  sepulchral  reply,  "  the  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-seventh  wouldn't  be  too  much,  would  it  ? — 
'  where  moth  and  rust  do  corrupt,  but  lay — '  " 

Lay,  indeed,  thought  I,  and  such  a  lay  !  the  seven  hundred 
and  seventy-seventh  !  Well,  old  Bildad,  you  are  determined 
that  I,  for  one,  shall  not  lay  up  many  lays  here  below,  where 
moth  and  rust  do  corrupt.  It  was  an  exceedingly  long  lay 
that,  indeed  ;  and  though  from  the  magnitude  of  the  figure  it 
might  at  first  deceive  a  landsman,  yet  the  slightest  considera- 
tion will  show  that  though  seven  hundred  and  seventy-seven  is  a 
pretty  large  number,  yet,  when  you  come  to  make  a  teenth  of 
it,  you  will  then  see,  I  say,  that  the  seven  hundred  and  seventy- 
seventh  part  of  a  farthing  is  a  good  deal  less  than  seven 
hundred  and  seventy-seven  gold  doubloons  ;  and  so  I  thought  at 
the  time. 

"  Why,  blast  your  eyes,  Bildad,"  cried  Peleg,  "  thou  dost  not 
want  to  swindle  this  young  man  !  he  must  have  more  than 
that." 

"  Seven  hundred  and  seventy-seventh,"  again  said  Bildad, 
without  lifting  his  eyes ;  and  then  went  on  mumbling — "  fof 
where  your  treasure  is,  there  will  your  heart  be  also." 


THE    SHIP.  8? 


"I  am  going  to  put  him  down  for  the  three  hundredth," 
said  Peleg,  "  do  ye  hear  that,  Bildad !  The  three  hundredth 
lay,  I  say." 

Bildad  laid  down  his  book,  and  turning  solemnly  towards  him 
said,  "  Captain  Peleg,  thou  hast  a  generous  heart ;  but  thou 
must  consider  the  duty  thou  owest  to  the  other  owners  of  this 
ship — widows  and  orphans,  many  of  them — and  that  if  we  too 
abundantly  reward  the  labors  of  this  young  man,  we  may  be 
taking  the  bread  from  those  widows  and  those  orphans.  The 
seven  hundred  and  seventy-seventh  lay,  Captain  Peleg." 

"  Thou  Bildad  !"  roared  Peleg,  starting  up  and  clattering 
about  the  cabin.  "  Blast  ye,  Captain  Bildad,  if  I  had  followed 
thy  advice  in  these  matters,  I  would  afore  now  had  a  conscience 
to  lug  about  that  would  be  heavy  enough  to  founder  the  largest 
ship  that  ever  sailed  round  Cape  Horn." 

"  Captain  Peleg,"  said  Bildad  steadily,  "  thy  conscience  may 
be  drawing  ten  inches  of  water,  or  ten  fathoms,  I  can't  tell ; 
but  as  thou  art  still  an  impenitent  man,  Captain  Peleg,  I  greatly 
fear  lest  thy  conscience  be  but  a  leaky  one  ;  and  will  in  the 
end  sink  thee  foundering  down  to  the  fiery  pit,  Captain  Peleg.'' 

"  Fiery  pit !  fiery  pit !  ye  insult  me,  man ;  past  all  natural 
bearing,  ye  insult  me.  It's  an  all-fired  outrage  to  tell  any 
human  creature  that  he's  bound  to  hell.  Flukes  and  flames  ! 
Bildad,  say  that  again  to  me,  and  start  my  soul-bolts,  but 
I'll — I'll — yes,  I'll  swallow  a  live  goat  with  all  his  hair  and 
horns  on.  Out  of  the  cabin,  ye  canting,  drab-colored  son  of  a 
wooden  gun — a  straight  wake  with  ye  !" 

As  he  thundered  out  this  he  made  a  rush  at  Bildad,  but  with 
a  marvellous  oblique,  sliding  celerity,  Bildad  for  that  time 
eluded  him. 

Alarmed  at  this  terrible  outburst  between  the  two  principal 
and  responsible  owners  of  the  ship,  and  feeling  half  a  mind  to 
give  up  all  idea  of  sailing  in  a  vessel  so  questionably  owned  and 
temporarily  commanded,  I  stepped  aside  from  the  door  to  give 


88  THE    SHIP. 


egress  to  Bildad,  who,  I  made  no  doubt,  was  all  eagerness  to 
vanish  from  before  the  awakened  wrath  of  Peleg.  But  to  my 
astonishment,  he  sat  down  again  on  the  transom  very  quietly, 
and  seemed  to  have  not  the  slightest  intention  of  withdrawing. 
He  seemed  quite  used  to  impenitent  Peleg  and  his  ways.  As 
for  Peleg,  after  letting  off  his  rage  as  he  had,  there  seemed  no 
more  left  in  him,  and  he,  too,  sat  down  like  a  lamb,  though  he 
twitched  a  little  as  if  still  nervously  agitated.  "  Whew  !"  he 
whistled  at  last — "  the  squall's  gone  off  to  leeward,  I  think 
Bildad,  thou  used  to  be  good  at  sharpening  a  lance,  mend  that 
pen,  will  ye.  My  jack-knife  here  needs  the  grindstone.  That's 
he ;  thank  ye,  Bildad.  Now  then,  my  young  man,  Ishmael's 
thy  name,  didn't  ye  say?  Well  then,  down  ye  go  here, 
Ishmael,  for  the  three  hundredth  lay." 

"  Captain  Peleg,"  said  I,  "  I  have  a  friend  with  me  who 
wants  to  ship  too — shall  I  bring  him  down  to-morrow  ?" 

"  To  be  sure,"  said  Peleg.  "  Fetch  him  along,  and  we'll 
look  at  him." 

"  What  lay  does  he  want  ?"  groaned  Bildad,  glancing  up 
from  the  book  in  which  he  had  again  been  burying  himself. 

"  Oh  !  never  thee  mind  about  that,  Bildad,"  said  Peleg. 
"  Has  he  ever  whaled  it  any  ?"  turning  to  me. 

"  Killed  more  whales  than  I  can  count,  Captain  Peleg." 

"  Well,  bring  him  along  then." 

And,  after  signing  the  papers,  off  I  went ;  nothing  doubting 
but  that  I  had  done  a  good  morning's  work,  and  that  the 
Pequod  was  the  identical  ship  that  Yojo  had  provided  to  cany 
Queequeg  and  me  round  the  Cape. 

But  I  had  not  proceeded  far,  when  I  began  to  bethink  me 
that  the  captain  with  whom  I  was  to  sail  yet  remained  unseen 
by  me ;  though,  indeed,  in  many  cases,  a  whale-ship  will  be 
completely  fitted  out,  and  receive  all  her  crew  on  board,  ere  the 
captain  makes  himself  visible  by  arriving  to  take  command ;  for 
sometimes  these  voyages  are  so  prolonged,  and  the  shore  inter- 


THE    SHIP.  89 


vals  at  home  so  exceedingly  brief,  that  if  the  captain  have  a 
family,  or  any  absorbing  concernment  of  that  sort,  he  does  not 
trouble  himself  much  about  his  ship  in  port,  but  leaves  her 
to  the  owners  till  all  is  ready  for  sea.  However,  it  is  always  as 
well  to  have  a  look  at  him  before  irrevocably  committing  your- 
self into  his  hands.  Turning  back  I  accosted  Captain  Peleg, 
inquiring  where  Captain  Ahab  was  to  be  found. 

"And  what  dost  thou  want  of  Captain  Ahab  ?  It's  all  right 
enough  ;  thou  art  shipped." 

"  Yes,  but  I  should  like  to  see  him." 

"  But  I  don't  think  thou  wilt  be  able  to  at  present.  I  don't 
know  exactly  what's  the  matter  with  him ;  but  he  keeps  close 
inside  the  house  ;  a  sort  of  sick,  and  yet  he  don't  look  so.  In 
fact,  he  ain't  sick ;  but  no,  he  isn't  well  either.  Any  how, 
young  man,  he  won't  always  see  me,  so  I  don't  suppose  he  will 
thee.  He's  a  queer  man,  Captain  Ahab — so  some  think — but 
a  good  one.  Oh,  thou'lt  like  him  well  enough ;  no  fear,  no 
fear.  He's  a  grand,  ungodly,  god-like  man,  Captain  Ahab ; 
doesn't  speak  much ;  but,  when  he  does  speak,  then  you  may 
well  listen.  Mark  ye,  be  forewarned ;  Ahab's  above  the  com- 
mon ;  Ahab's  been  in  colleges,  as  well  as  'mong  the  cannibals  ; 
been  used  to  deeper  wonders  than  the  waves ;  fixed  his  fiery 
lance  in  mightier,  stranger  foes  than  whales.  His  lance !  aye, 
the  keenest  and  the  surest  that  out  of  all  our  isle !  Oh  !  he 
ain't  Captain  Bildad;  no,  and  he  ain't  Captain  Peleg;  he's 
Ahab,  boy ;  and  Ahab  of  old,  thou  knowest,  was  a  crowned 
king!" 

"  And  a  very  vile  one.  When  that  wicked  king  was  slain, 
the  dogs,  did  they  not  lick  his  blood  ?" 

"  Come  hither  to  me — hither,  hither,"  said  Peleg,  with  a 
significance  in  his  eye  that  almost  startled  me.  "  Look  ye,  lad ; 
never  say  that  on  board  the  Pequod.  Never  say  it  anywhere. 
Captain  Ahab  did  not  name  himself.  'Twas  a  foolish,  ignorant 
whim  of  his  crazy,  widowed  mother,  who  died  when  he  was  only 


90  THE    SHIP. 


a  twelvemonth  old.  And  yet  the  old  squaw  Tistig,  at  Gay- 
head,  said  that  the  name  would  somehow  prove  prophetic. 
And,  perhaps,  other  fools  like  her  may  tell  thee  the  same.  I 
wish  to  warn  thee.  It's  a  lie.  I  know  Captain  Ahab  well ; 
I've  sailed  with  him  as  mate  years  ago  ;  I  know  what  he  is — 
a  good  man — not  a  pious,  good  man,  like  Bildad,  but  a 
swearing  good  man — something  like  me — only  there's  a  good 
deal  more  of  him.  Aye,  aye,  I  know  that  he  was  never  very 
jolly ;  and  I  know  that  on  the  passage  home,  he  was  a  little 
out  of  his  mind  for  a  spell ;  but  it  was  the  sharp  shooting  pains 
in  his  bleeding  stump  that  brought  that  about,  as  any  one 
might  see.  I  know,  too,  that  ever  since  he  lost  his  leg  last 
voyage  by  that  accursed  whale,  he's  been  a  kind  of  moody — 
desperate  moody,  and  savage  sometimes  ;  but  that  will  all  pass 
off.  And  once  for  all,  let  me  tell  thee  and  assure  thee,  young 
man,  it's  better  to  sail  with  a  moody  good  captain  than  a  laugh- 
ing bad  one.  So  good-bye  to  thee — and  wrong  not  Captain 
Ahab,  because  he  happens  to  have  a  wicked  name.  Besides, 
my  boy,  he  has  a  wife — not  three  voyages  wedded — a  sweet, 
resigned  girl.  Think  of  that ;  by  that  sweet  girl  that  old  man 
has  a  child :  hold  ye  then  there  can  be  any  utter,  hopeless 
harm  in  Ahab  ?  No,  no,  my  lad ;  stricken,  blasted,  if  he  be, 
Ahab  has  his  humanities  !" 

As  I  walked  away,  I  was  full  of  thoughtfulness ;  what  had 
been  incidentally  revealed  to  me  of  Captain  Ahab,  filled  me 
with  a  certain  wild  vagueness  of  painfulness  concerning  him. 
And  somehow,  at  the  time,  I  felt  a  sympathy  and  a  sorrow  for 
him,  but  for  I  don't  know  what,  unless  it  was  the  cruel  loss  of 
his  leg.  And  yet  I  also  felt  a  strange  awe  of  him ;  but  that 
sort  of  awe,  which  I  cannot  at  all  describe,  was  not  exactly  awe ; 
I  do  not  know  what  it  was.  But  I  felt  it ;  and  it  did  not  disin- 
cline me  towards  him  ;  though  I  felt  impatience  at  what  seemed 
like  mystery  in  him,  so  imperfectly  as  he  was  known  to  me  then. 
However,  my  thoughts  were  at  length  carried  in  other  direc- 
tions, so  that  for  the  present  dark  Ahab  slipped  my  mind. 


THERAMADAN.  91 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

THE    RAMADAN. 

As  Queequeg's  Ramadan,  or  Fasting  and  Humiliation,  was  to 
continue  all  day,  I  did  not  choose  to  disturb  him  till  towards 
night-fall ;  for  I  cherish  the  greatest  respect  towards  everybody's 
religious  obligations,  never  mind  how  comical,  and  could  not 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  undervalue  even  a  congregation  of 
ants  worshipping  a  toad-stool;  or  those  other  creatures  in 
certain  parts  of  our  earth,  who  with  a  degree  of  footmanism 
quite  unprecedented  in  other  planets,  bow  down  before  the 
torso  of  a  deceased  landed  proprietor  merely  on  account 
of  the  inordinate  possessions  yet  owned  and  rented  in  his  name. 

I  say,  we  good  Presbyterian  Christians  should  be  charitable 
in  these  things,  and  not  fancy  ourselves  so  vastly  superior  to 
other  mortals,  pagans  and  what  not,  because  of  their  half-crazy 
conceits  on  these  subjects.  There  was  Queequeg,  now,  certainly 
entertaining  the  most  absurd  notions  about  Yojo  and  his  Rama- 
dan ; — but  what  of  that  ?  Queequeg  thought  he  knew  what 
he  was  about,  I  suppose ;  he  seemed  to  be  content ;  and  there 
let  him  rest.  All  our  arguing  with  him  would  not  avail ;  let 
him  be,  I  say :  and  Heaven  have  mercy  on  us  all — Presbyte- 
rians and  Pagans  alike — for  we  are  all  somehow  dreadfully 
cracked  about  the  head,  and  sadly  need  mending. 

Towards  evening,  when  I  felt  assured  that  all  his  perform- 
ances and  rituals  must  be  over,  I  went  up  to  his  room  and 
knocked  at  the  door ;  but  no  answer.  I  tried  to  open  it,  but  it 
was  fastened  inside.  "Queequeg,"  said  I  softly  through  the 
key-hole : — all  silent.  "  I  say,  Queequeg !  why  don't  you 
speak?     It's  I — Ishmael."     But  all  remained  still  as  before.    I 


92  THE    RAMADAN. 


began  to  grow  alarmed.  I  had  allowed  him  such  abundant 
time  ;  I  thought  he  might  have  had  an  apoplectic  fit.  I  looked 
through  the  key-hole ;  but  the  door  opening  into  an  odd  corner 
of  the  room,  the  key-hole  prospect  was  but  a  crooked  and  sinister 
one.  I  could  only  see  part  of  the  foot-board  of  the  bed  and  a 
line  of  the  wall,  but  nothing  more.  I  was  surprised  to  behold 
resting  against  the  wall  the  wooden  shaft  of  Queequeg's  harpoon, 
which  the  landlady  the  evening  previous  had  taken  from  him,  be- 
fore our  mounting  to  the  chamber.  That's  strange,  thought  I ; 
but  at  any  rate,  since  the  harpoon  stands  yonder,  and  he  seldom 
or  never  goes  abroad  without  it,  therefore  he  must  be  inside  here, 
and  no  possible  mistake. 

"  Queequeg  ! — Queequeg  !" — all  still.  Something  must 
have  happened.  Apoplexy  !  I  tried  to  burst  open  the  door ; 
but  it  stubbornly  resisted.  Running  down  stairs,  I  quickly 
stated  my  suspicions  to  the  first  person  I  met — the  chamber- 
maid. "  La  !  La !"  she  cried,  "  I  thought  something  must  be  the 
matter.  I  went  to  make  the  bed  after  breakfast,  and  the  door 
was  locked  ;  and  not  a  mouse  to  be  heard ;  and  it's  been  just 
so  silent  ever  since.  But  I  thought,  may  be,  you  had  both 
gone  off  and  locked  your  baggage  in  for  safe  keeping.  La ! 
La,  ma'am! — Mistress  !  murder!  Mrs.  Hussey!  apoplexy  !" — 
and  with  these  cries,  she  ran  towards  the  kitchen,  I  following. 

Mrs.  Hussey  soon  appeared,  with  a  mustard-pot  in  one  hand 
and  a  vinegar-cruet  in  the  other,  having  just  broken  away  from 
the  occupation  of  attending  to  the  castors,  and  scolding  her 
little  black  boy  meantime. 

"  Wood-house !"  cried  I,  "  which  way  to  it  ?  Run  for  God's 
sake,  and  fetch  something  to  pry  open  the  door — the  axe ! — 
the  axe ! — he's  had  a  stroke ;  depend  upon  it !" — and  so  saying 
I  was  unmethodically  rushing  up  stairs  again  empty-handed, 
when  Mrs.  Hussey  interposed  the  mustard-pot  and  vinegar- 
cruet,  and  the  entire  castor  of  her  countenance. 

"  What's  the  matter  with  you,  young  man  ?" 


THE    RAMADAN.  93 

"  Get  the  axe  !  For  God's  sake,  run  for  the  doctor,  some 
one,  while  I  pry  it  open  !" 

"Look  here,"  said  the  landlady,  quickly  putting  down  the 
vinegar-cruet,  so  as  to  have  one  hand  free ;  "  look  here ;  are 
you  talking  about  prying  open  any  of  my  doors  ?" — and  with 
that  she  seized  my  arm.  "What's  the  matter  with  you? 
What's  the  matter  with  you,  shipmate  ?" 

In  as  calm,  but  rapid  a  manner  as  possible,  I  gave  her  to  un- 
derstand the  whole  case.  Unconsciously  clapping  the  vinegar- 
cruet  to  one  side  of  her  nose,  she  ruminated  for  an  instant; 
then  exclaimed — "  No !  I  haven't  seen  it  since  I  put  it  there." 
Running  to  a  little  closet  under  the  landing  of  the  stairs, 
she  glanced  in,  and  returning,  told  me  that  Queequeg's  harpoon 
was  missing.  " He's  killed  himself,"  she  cried.  "It's  unfort'- 
nate  Stiggs  done  over  again — there  goes  another  counterpane — 
God  pity  his  poor  mother  ! — it  will  be  the  ruin  of  my  house. 
Has  the  poor  lad  a  sister  ?  Where's  that  girl  ? — there,  Betty,  go 
to  Snarles  the  Painter,  and  tell  him  to  paint  me  a  sign,  with — 
'  no  suicides  permitted  here,  and  no  smoking  in  the  parlor  ;' — 
might  as  well  kill  both  birds  at  once.  Kill  ?  The  Lord  be  merciful 
to  his  ghost !  What's  that  noise  there  ?  You,  young  man, 
avast  there !" 

And  running  up  after  me,  she  caught  me  as  I  was  again 
trying  to  force  open  the  door. 

"  I  won't  allow  it ;  I  won't  have  my  premises  spoiled.  Go 
for  the  locksmith,  there's  one  about  a  mile  from  here.  But 
avast !"  putting  her  hand  in  her  side-pocket,  "  here's  a  key 
that'll  fit,  I  guess  ;  let's  see."  And  with  that,  she  turned  it  in  the 
lock  ;  but,  alas !  Queequeg's  supplemental  bolt  remained  unwith- 
drawn  within. 

"  Have  to  burst  it  open,"  said  I,  and  was  running  down  the 
entry  a  little,  for  a  good  start,  when  the  landlady  caught  at  me, 
again  vowing  I  should  not  break  down  her  premises ;  but  I  tore 
from  her,  and  with  a  sudden  bodily  rush  dashed  myself  full 
against  the  mark. 


94  THE    RAMADAN. 

With  a  prodigious  noise  the  door  flew  open,  and  the  knot 
slamming  against  the  wall,  sent  the  plaster  to  the  ceiling ; 
and  there,  good  heavens !  there  sat  Queequeg,  altogether  cool 
and  self-collected  ;  right  in  the  middle  of  the  room  ;  squatting 
on  his  hams,  and  holding  Yojo  on  top  of  his  head.  He 
looked  neither  one  way  nor  the  other  way,  but  sat  like  a  carved 
image  with  scarce  a  sign  of  active  life. 

"  Queequeg,"  said  I,  going  up  to  him,  "  Queequeg,  what's  the 
matter  with  you  ?" 

"  He  hain't  been  a  sittin'  so  all  day,  has  he  ?"  said  the 
landlady. 

But  all  we  said,  not  a  word  could  we  drag  out  of  him ;  I 
almost  felt  like  pushing  him  over,  so  as  to  change  his  position, 
for  it  was  almost  intolerable,  it  seemed  so  painfully  and  unna- 
turally constrained ;  especially,  as  in  all  probability  he  had 
been  sitting  so  for  upwards  of  eight  or  ten  hours,  going  too 
without  his  regular  meals. 

"  Mrs.  Hussey,"  said  I,  "  he's  alive  at  all  events ;  so  leave  us, 
if  you  please,  and  I  will  see  to  this  strange  affair  myself." 

Closing  the  door  upon  the  landlady,  I  endeavored  to  prevail 
upon  Queequeg  to  take  a  chair ;  but  in  vain.  There  he  sat ; 
and  all  he  could  do — for  all  my  polite  arts  and  blandishments — he 
would  not  move  a  peg,  nor  say  a  single  word,  nor  even  look  at 
me,  nor  notice  my  presence  in  any  the  slightest  way. 

I  wonder,  thought  I,  if  this  can  possibly  be  a  part  of  his 
Ramadan ;  do  they  fast  on  their  hams  that  way  in  his  native 
island.  It  must  be  so  ;  yes,  it's  part  of  his  creed,  I  suj>pose ; 
well,  then,  let  him  rest ;  he'll  get  up  sooner  or  later,  no  doubt. 
It  can't  last  for  ever,  thank  God,  and  his  Ramadan  only  comes 
once  a  year  ;  and  I  don't  believe  it's  very  punctual  then. 

I  went  down  to  supper.  After  sitting  a  long  time  listening  to 
the  long  stories  of  some  sailors  who  had  just  come  from  a 
plum-pudding  voyage,  as  they  called  it  (that  is,  a  short  whaling- 
voyage  in  a  schooner  or  brig,  confined  to  the  north  of  the  line, 


THE    RAMADAN.  D5 

in  the  Atlantic  Ocean  only) ;  after  listening  to  these  plum- 
puddingers  till  nearly  eleven  o'clock,  I  went  up  stairs  to  go  to 
bed,  feeling  quite  sure  by  this  time  Queequeg  must  certainly 
have  brought  his  Ramadan  to  a  termination.  But  no ;  there 
he  was  just  where  I  had  left  him ;  he  had  not  stirred  an  inch. 
I  began  to  grow  vexed  with  him ;  it  seemed  so  downright 
senseless  and  insane  to  be  sitting  there  all  day  and  half  the  night 
on  his  hams  in  a  cold  room,  holding  a  piece  of  wood  on  his 
head. 

"  For  heaven's  sake,  Queequeg,  get  up  and  shake  yourself; 
get  up  and  have  some  supper.  You'll  starve  ;  you'll  kill  your- 
self, Queequeg."     But  not  a  word  did  he  reply. 

Despairing  of  him,  therefore,  I  determined  to  go  to  bed  and 
to  sleep  ;  and  no  doubt,  before  a  great  while,  he  would  follow 
me.  But  previous  to  turning  in,  I  took  my  heavy  bearskin 
jacket,  and  threw  it  over  him,  as  it  promised  to  be  a  very  cold 
night  ;  and  he  had  nothing  but  his  ordinary  round  jacket  on. 
For  some  time,  do  all  I  would,  I  could  not  get  into  the  faintest 
doze.  I  had  blown  out  the  candle  ;  and  the  mere  thought  of 
Queequeg — not  four  feet  off — sitting  there  in  that  uneasy  posi- 
tion, stark  alone  in  the  cold  and  dark ;  this  made  me  really 
wretched.  Think  of  it ;  sleeping  all  night  in  the  same  room  with 
a  wide  awake  pagan  on  his  hams  in  this  dreary,  unaccounta- 
ble Ramadan ! 

But  somehow  I  dropped  off  at  last,  and  knew  nothing  more 
till  break  of  day ;  when,  looking  over  the  bedside,  there 
squatted  Queequeg,  as  if  he  had  been  screwed  down  to  the 
floor.  But  as  soon  as  the  first  glimpse  of  sun  entered  the 
window,  up  he  got,  with  stiff  and  grating  joints,  but  with  a 
cheerful  look ;  limped  towards  me  where  I  lay  ;  pressed  his 
forehead  again  against  mine ;  and  said  his  Ramadan  was 
over. 

Now,  as  I  before  hinted,  I  have  no  objection  to  any  person's 
religion,  be  it  what  it  may,  so  long  as  that  person  does  not  kill 


96  THE    RAMADAN. 

or  insult  any  other  person,  because  that  other  person  don't 
believe  it  also.  But  when  a  man's  religion  becomes  really 
frantic ;  when  it  is  a  positive  torment  to  him ;  and,  in  fine, 
makes  this  earth  of  ours  an  uncomfortable  inn  to  lodge  in ;  then 
I  think  it  high  time  to  take  that  individual  aside  and  argue  the 
j>oint  with  him. 

And  just  so  I  now  did  with  Queequeg.  "  Queequeg,"  said 
I,  "  get  into  bed  now,  and  he  and  listen  to  me."  I  then  went 
on,  beginning  with  the  rise  and  progress  of  the  primitive  reli- 
gions, and  coming  down  to  the  various  religions  of  the  present 
time,  during  which  time  I  labored  to  show  Queequeg  that  all 
these  Lents,  Ramadans,  and  prolonged  ham-squattings  in  cold, 
cheerless  rooms  were  stark  nonsense ;  bad  for  the  health ;  useless 
for  the  soul ;  opposed,  in  short,  to  the  obvious  laws  of  Hygiene 
and  common  sense.  I  told  him,  too,  that  he  being  in  other 
things  such  an  extremely  sensible  and  sagacious  savage,  it 
pained  me,  very  badly  pained  me,  to  see  him  now  so  deplorably 
foolish  about  this  ridiculous  Ramadan  of  his.  Besides,  argued 
I,  fasting  makes  the  body  cave  in ;  hence  the  spirit  caves  in ; 
and  all  thoughts  born  of  a  fast  must  necessarily  be  half-starved. 
This  is  the  reason  why  most  dyspeptic  religionists  cherish 
such  melancholy  notions  about  their  hereafters.  In  one  word, 
Queequeg,  said  I,  rather  digressively ;  hell  is  an  idea  first  bora 
on  an  undigested  apple-dumpling ;  and  since  then  perpetuated 
through  the  hereditary  dyspepsias  nurtured  by  Ramadans. 

I  then  asked  Queequeg  whether  he  himself  was  ever  troubled 
with  dyspepsia;  expressing  the  idea  very  plainly,  so  that  he 
could  take  it  in.  He  said  no ;  only  upon  one  memorable  occa- 
sion. It  was  after  a  great  feast  given  by  his  father  the  king, 
on  the  gaining  of  a  great  battle  wherein  fifty  of  the  enemy  had 
been  killed  by  about  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  all 
cooked  and  eaten  that  very  evening. 

"  No  more,  Queequeg,"  said  I,  shuddering ;  "  that  will  do ;" 
for  I  knew  the  inferences  without  his  further  hinting  them.     I 


HIS    MARK.  97 


had  seen  a  sailor  who  had  visited  that  very  island,  and  he  told 
me  that  it  was  the  custom,  when  a  great  battle  had  been  gained 
there,  to  barbecue  all  the  slain  in  the  yard  or  garden  of  the 
victor ;  and  then,  one  by  one,  they  were  placed  in  great  wooden 
trenchers,  and  garnished  round  like  a  pilau,  with  breadfruit 
and  cocoanuts ;  and  with  some  parsley  in  their  mouths,  were 
sent  round  with  the  victor's  compliments  to  all  his  friends,  just 
as  though  these  presents  were  so  many  Christmas  turkeys. 

After  all,  I  do  not  think  that  my  remarks  about  religion 
made  much  impression  upon  Queequeg.  Because,  in  the  first 
place,  he  somehow  seemed  dull  of  hearing  on  that  important 
Bubject,  unless  considered  from  his  own  point  of  view ;  and,  in 
the  second  place,  he  did  not  more  than  one  third  understand 
me,  couch  my  ideas  simply  as  I  would ;  and,  finally,  he  no 
doubt  thought  he  knew  a  good  deal  more  about  the  true 
religion  than  I  did.  He  looked  at  me  with  a  sort  of  conde- 
scending concern  and  compassion,  as  though  he  thought  it  a 
great  pity  that  such  a  sensible  young  man  should  be  so  hope- 
lessly lost  to  evangelical  pagan  piety. 

At  last  we  rose  and  dressed  ;  and  Queequeg,  taking  a  prodi- 
giously hearty  breakfast  of  chowders  of  all  sorts,  so  that  the 
landlady  should  not  make  much  profit  by  reason  of  his  Rama- 
dan, we  sallied  out  to  board  the  Pequod,  sauntering  along,  and 
picking  our  teeth  with  halibut  bones. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


As  we  were  walking  down  the  end  of  the  wharf  towards  the 
ship,  Queequeg  carrying  his  harpoon,  Captain  Peleg  in  his 
gruff  voice  loudly  hailed  us  from  his  wigwam,  saying  he  had 

5 


98  HIS    MARK 


not  suspected  my  friend  was  a  cannibal,  and  furthermore 
announcing  that  he  let  no  cannibals  on  board  that  craft,  unless 
they  previously  produced  their  papers. 

"  What  do  you  mean  by  that,  Captain  Peleg  ?"  said  I,  now 
jumping  on  the  bulwarks,  and  leaving  my  comrade  standing  on 
the  wharf. 

"  I  mean,"  he  replied,  "  he  must  show  his  papers." 

"  Yea,"  said  Captain  Bildad  in  his  hollow  voice,  sticking  his 
head  from  behind  Peleg's,  out  of  the  wigwam.  "  He  must  show 
that  he's  converted.  Son  of  darkness,"  he  added,  turning  to 
Queequeg,  "art  thou  at  present  in  communion  with  any 
christian  church  ?" 

"  Why,"  said  I,  "  he's  a  member  of  the  first  Congregational 
Church."  Here  be  it  said,  that  many  tattooed  savages  sailing 
in  Nantucket  ships  at  last  come  to  be  converted  into  the 
churches. 

"  First  Congregational  Church,"  cried  Bildad,  "  what !  that 
worships  in  Deacon  Deuteronomy  Coleman's  meeting-house  ?" 
and  so  saying,  taking  out  his  spectacles,  he  rubbed  them  with 
his  great  yellow  bandana  handkerchief,  and  putting  them  on 
very  carefully,  came  out  of  the  wigwam,  and  leaning  stiffly 
over  the  bulwarks,  took  a  good  long  look  at  Queequeg. 

"  How  long  hath  he  been  a  member  ?"  he  then  said,  turning 
to  me ;  "  not  very  long,  I  rather  guess,  young  man." 

"No,"  said  Peleg,  "and  he  hasn't  been  baptized  right  either, 
or  it  would  have  washed  some  of  that  devil's  blue  off  his  face." 

"  Do  tell,  now,"  cried  Bildad,  "  is  this  Philistine  a  regular 
member  of  Deacon  Deuteronomy's  meeting  ?  I  never  saw  him 
going  there,  and  I  pass  it  every  Lord's  day." 

"  I  don't  know  anything  about  Deacon  Deuteronomy  or  his 
meeting,"  said  I,  "  all  I  know  is,  that  Queequeg  here  is  a  born 
member  of  the  First  Congregational  Church.  He  is  a  deacon 
himself,  Queequeg  is." 

"  Young   man,"   said  Bildad  sternly,  "  thou  art  skylarking 


HIS    MARK.  99 


with  me — explain  thyself,  thou  young  Hittite.  What  church 
dost  thee  mean  ?  answer  me." 

Finding  myself  thus  hard  pushed,  I  replied.  "  I  mean,  sir, 
the  same  ancient  Catholic  Church  to  which  you  and  I,  and 
Captain  Peleg  there,  and  Queequeg  here,  and  all  of  us,  and 
every  mother's  son  and  soul  of  us  belong ;  the  great  and  ever- 
lasting First  Congregation  of  this  whole  worshipping  world ; 
we  all  belong  to  that ;  only  some  of  us  cherish  some  queer 
crotchets  noways  touching  the  grand  belief ;  in  that  we  all  join 
hands." 

"  Splice,  thou  mean'st  splice  hands,"  cried  Peleg,  drawing 
nearer.  "  Young  man,  you'd  better  ship  for  a  missionary, 
instead  of  a  fore-mast  hand ;  I  never  heard  a  better  sermon. 
Deacon  Deuteronomy — why  Father  Mapple  himself  couldn't 
beat  it,  and  he's  reckoned  something.  Come  aboard,  come 
aboard ;  never  mind  about  the  papers.  I  say,  tell  Quohog 
there — what's  that  you  call  him  ?  tell  Quohog  to  step  along. 
By  the  great  anchor,  what  a  harpoon  he's  got  there  !  looks  like 
good  stuff  that ;  and  he  handles  it  about  right.  I  say, 
Quohog,  or  whatever  your  name  is,  did  you  ever  stand  in  the 
head  of  a  whale-boat  ?  did  you  ever  strike  a  fish  ?" 

Without  saying  a  word,  Queequeg,  in  his  wild  sort  of  way, 
jumped  upon  the  bulwarks,  from  thence  into  the  bows  of  one  of 
the  whale-boats  hanging  to  the  side ;  and  then  bracing  his  left 
knee,  and  poising  his  harpoon,  cried  out  in  some  such  way  as 
this : — 

"  Cap'ain,  you  see  him  small  drop  tar  on  water  dere  ?  You 
see  him  ?  well,  spose  him  one  whale  eye,  well,  den !"  and 
taking  sharp  aim  at  it,  he  darted  the  iron  right  over  old 
Bildad's  broad  brim,  clean  across  the  ship's  decks,  and  struck 
the  glistening  tar  spot  out  of  sight. 

"  Now,"  said  Queequeg,  quietly  hauling  in  the  line,  "  spos-ee 
him  whale-e  eye ;  why,  dad  whale  dead." 

"  Quick,  Bildad,"  said  Peleg,  his  partner,  who,  aghast  at  the 


100  HIS    MARK. 


close  vicinity  of  the  flying  harpoon,  had  retreated  towards  the 
cabin  gangway.  "  Quick,  I  say,  you  Bildad,  and  get  the  ship's 
papers.  We  must  have  Hedgehog  there,  I  mean  Quohog,  in 
one  of  our  boats.  Look  ye,  Quohog,  we'll  give  ye  the  ninetieth 
lay,  and  that's  more  than  ever  was  given  a  harpooneer  yet  out  of 
Nantucket." 

So  down  we  went  into  the  cabin,  and  to  my  great  joy 
Queequeg  was  soon  enrolled  among  the  same  ship's  company 
to  which  I  myself  belonged. 

When  all  preliminaries  were  over  and  Peleg  had  got  every- 
thing ready  for  signing,  he  turned  to  me  and  said,  "  I  guess, 
Quohog  there  don't  know  how  to  write,  does  he  ?  I  say,  Quohog, 
blast  ye  !  dost  thou  sign  thy  name  or  make  thy  mark  V 

But  at  this  question,  Queequeg,  who  had  twice  or  thrice 
before  taken  part  in  similar  ceremonies,  looked  no  ways  abashed  ; 
but  taking  the  offered  pen,  copied  upon  the  paper,  in  the  pro- 
per place,  an  exact  counterpart  of  a  queer  round  figure  which 
was  tattooed  upon  his  arm ;  so  that  through  Captain  Peleg's 
obstinate  mistake  touching  his  appellative,  it  stood  something 
like  this : — 

Quohog. 
his     »J«     mark. 

Meanwhile  Captain  Bildad  sat  earnestly  and  steadfastly 
eyeing  Queequeg,  and  at  last  rising  solemnly  and  fumbling  in 
the  huge  pockets  of  his  broad-skirted  drab  coat,  took  out  a 
bundle  of  tracts,  and  selecting  one  entitled  "  The  Latter  Day 
Coming ;  or  No  Time  to  Lose,"  placed  it  in  Queequeg's  hands, 
and  then  grasping  them  and  the  book  with  both  his,  looked 
earnestly  into  his  eyes,  and  said,  "  Son  of  darkness,  I  must  do 
my  duty  by  thee  ;  I  am  part  owner  of  this  ship,  and  feel  concerned 
for  the  souls  of  all  its  crew;  if  thou  still  clingest  to  thy 
Pagan  ways,  which  I  sadly  fear,  I  beseech  thee,  remain  not 
for  aye  a  Belial  bondsman.     Spurn  the  idol   Bell,   and  the 


HIS    MARK.  101 


hideous  dragon  ;  turn  from  the  wrath  to  come ;  mind  thine 
eye,  I  say ;  oh  !  goodness  gracious  !  steer  clear  of  the  fiery 
pit !". 

Something  of  the  salt  sea  yet  lingered  in  old  Bildad's 
language,  heterogeneously  mixed  with  Scriptural  and  domestic 
phrases. 

"  Avast  there,  avast  there,  Bildad,  avast  now  spoiling  our 
harpooneer,"  cried  Peleg.  "  Pious  harpooneers  never  make 
good  voyagers — it  takes  the  shark  out  of  'em  ;  no  harpooneer 
is  worth  a  straw  who  aint  pretty  sharkish.  There  was  young 
Nat  Swaine,  once  the  bravest  boat-header  out  of  all  Nantucket 
and  the  Vineyard ;  he  joined  the  meeting,  and  never  came  to 
good.  He  got  so  frightened  about  his  plaguy  soul,  that  he 
shrinked  and  sheered  away  from  whales,  for  fear  of  after-claps, 
in  case  he  got  stove  and  went  to  Davy  Jones." 

"  Peleg !  Peleg  !"  said  Bildad,  lifting  his  eyes  and  hands, 
"thou  thyself,  as  I  myself,  hast  seen  many  a  perilous  time; 
thou  knowest,  Peleg,  what  it  is  to  have  the  fear  of  death ;  how, 
then,  can'st  thou  prate  in  this  ungodly  guise.  Thou  behest 
thine  own  heart,  Peleg.  Tell  me,  when  this  same  Pequod  here 
had  her  three  masts  overboard  in  that  typhoon  on  Japan,  that 
same  voyage  when  thou  went  mate  with  Captain  Ahab,  did'st 
thou  not  think  of  Death  and  the  Judgment  then  ?" 

"  Hear  him,  hear  him  now,"  cried  Peleg,  marching  across  the 
cabin,  and  thrusting  his  hands  far  down  into  his  pockets, — 
"  hear  lnm,  all  of  ye:  Think  of  that!  When  every  moment  we 
thought  the  ship  would  sink  !  Death  and  the  Judgment 
then  ?  What  ?  With  all  three  masts  making  such  an  ever- 
lasting thundering  against  the  side ;  and  every  sea  breaking 
over  us,  fore  and  aft.  Think  of  Death  and  the  Judgment  then? 
No !  no  time  to  think  about  Death  then.  Life  was  what 
Captain  Ahab  and  I  was  thinking  of;  and  how  to  save  all 
hands — how  to  rig  jury-masts — how  to  get  into  the  nearest 
port ;  that  was  what  I  was  thinking  of." 


102  THE    PROPHET. 

Bildad  said  no  more,  but  buttoning  up  his  coat,  stalked  on 
deck,  where  we  followed  him.  There  he  stood,  very  quietly 
overlooking  some  sail-makers  who  were  mending  a  top-sail  in 
the  waist.  Now  and  then  he  stooped  to  pick  up  a  patch, 
or  save  an  end  of  the  tarred  twine,  which  otherwise  might  have 
been  wasted. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE    PROPHET. 

"  Shipmates,  have  ye  shipped  in  that  ship  ?" 

Queequeg  and  I  had  just  left  the  Pequod,  and  were 
sauntering  away  from  the  water,  for  the  moment  each  occupied 
with  his  own  thoughts,  when  the  above  words  were  put  to  us 
by  a  stranger,  who,  pausing  before  us,  levelled  his  massive  fore- 
finger at  the  vessel  in  question.  He  was  but  shabbily  apparel- 
led in  faded  jacket  and  patched  trowsers;  a  rag  of  a  black 
handkerchief  investing  his  neck.  A  confluent  small-pox  had 
in  all  directions  flowed  over  his  face,  and  left  it  like  the 
complicated  ribbed  bed  of  a  torrent,  when  the  rushing  waters 
have  been  dried  up. 

"  Have  ye  shipped  in  her  ?"  he  repeated. 

"  You  mean  the  ship  Pequod,  I  suppose,''  said  I,  trying  to 
gain  a  little  more  time  for  an  uninterrupted  look  at  him. 

"  Aye,  the  Pequod — that  ship  there,"  he  said,  drawing  back 
his  whole  arm,  and  then  rapidly  shoving  it  straight  out  from 
him,  with  the  fixed  bayonet  of  his  pointed  finger  darted  full  at 
the  object. 

"  Yes,"  said  I,  "  we  have  just  signed  the  articles." 

"  Anything  down  there  about  your  souls  ?" 

"  About  what  ?" 

"Oh,  perhaps  you  hav'n't  got  any,"   he  said  quickly.     "No 


THE    PROPHET.  103 

matter  though,  I  know  many  chaps  that  hav'n't  got  any, — good 
luck  to  'em ;  and  they  are  all  the  better  off  for  it.  A  soul's  a 
sort  of  a  fifth  wheel  to  a  wagon." 

"  What  are  you  jabbering  about,  shipmate  ?"  said  I. 

"  He's  got  enough,  though,  to  make  up  for  all  deficiencies  of 
that  sort  in  other  chaps,"  abruptly  said  the  sti'anger,  placing  a 
nervous  emphasis  upon  the  word  he. 

"  Queequeg,"  said  I,  "  let's  go  ;  this  fellow  has  broken  loose 
from  somewhere ;  he's  talking  about  something  and  somebody 
we  don't  know.'' 

"  Stop  !"  cried  the  stranger.  "  Ye  said  true — ye  hav'n't  seen 
Old  Thunder  yet,  have  ye  ?" 

"  Who's  Old  Thunder  ?"  said  I,  again  riveted  with  the  in- 
sane earnestness  of  his  manner. 

"Captain  Ahab." 

"  What  !  the  captain  of  our  ship,  the  Pequod?" 

"  Aye,  among  some  of  us  old  sailor  chaps,  he  goes  by  that 
name.     Ye  hav'n't  seen  him  yet,  have  ye  V 

"  No,  we  hav'n't.  He's  sick  they  say,  but  is  getting  better, 
and  will  be  all  right  again  before  long." 

"  All  right  again  before  long  !"  laughed  the  strangei-,  with  a 
solemnly  derisive  sort  of  laugh.  "  Look  ye ;  when  captain 
Ahab  is  all  right,  then  this  left  arm  of  mine  will  be  all  right ; 
not  before." 

"  What  do  you  know  about  him  ?" 

"  What  did  they  tell  you  about  him  ?    Say  that !" 

"  They  didn't  tell  much  of  anything  about  him ;  only  I've 
heard  that  he's  a  good  whale-hunter,  and  a  good  captain  to  his 
crew." 

"  That's  true,  that's  true — yes,  both  true  enough.  But  you 
must  jump  when  he  gives  an  order.  Step  and  growl ;  growl 
and  go — that's  the  word  with  Captain  Ahab.  But  nothing 
about  that  thing  that  happened  to  him  off  Cape  Horn,  long 
ago,  when  he  lay  like  dead  for  three  days  and  nights ; 
nothing  about  that  deadly  skrimmage  with  the  Spaniard  afore 


104  THE    PROPHET 


the  altar  in  Santa  ? — heard  nothing  about  that,  eh  ?■  Nothing 
about  the  silver  calabash  he  spat  into  ?  And  nothing  about  his 
losing  his  leg  last  voyage,  according  to  the  prophecy.  Didn't  ye 
hear  a  word  about  them  matters  and  something  more,  eh  ?  No, 
I  don't  think  ye  did  ;  how  could  ye  ?  Who  knows  it  ?  Not 
all  Nantucket,  I  guess.  But  hows'ever,  mayhap,  ye've  heard 
tell  about  the  leg,  and  how  he  lost  it ;  aye,  ye  have  heard  of 
that,  I  dare  say.  Oh  yes,  that  every  one  knows  a'most — I 
mean  they  know  he's  only  one  leg  ;  and  that  a  parmacetti  took 
the  other  off." 

"  My  friend,"  said  I,  "  what  all  this  gibberish  of  yours  is  about, 
I  don't  know,  and  I  don't  much  care ;  for  it  seems  to  me  that 
you  must  be  a  little  damaged  in  the  head.  But  if  you  are 
speaking  of  Captain  Ahab,  of  that  ship  there,  the  Pequod,  then 
let  me  tell  you,  that  I  know  all  about  the  los3  of  his  leg." 

"  All  about  it,  eh — sure  you  do  ? — all  ?'' 

"  Pretty  sure." 

With  finger  pointed  and  eye  levelled  at  the  Pequod,  the 
beggar-like  stranger  stood  a  moment,  as  if  in  a  troubled  reverie  ; 
then  starting  a  little,  turned  and  said : — "  Ye've  shipped,  have 
ye  ?  Names  down  on  the  papers  ?  Well,  well,  what's  signed, 
is  signed ;  and  what's  to  be,  will  be  ;  and  then  again,  perhaps 
it  wont  be,  after  all.  Any  how,  it's  all  fixed  and  arranged 
a'ready ;  and  some  sailors  or  other  must  go  with  him,  I 
suppose  ;  as  well  these  as  any  other  men,  God  pity  'em ! 
Morning  to  ye,  shipmates,  morning  ;  the  ineffable  heavens  bless 
ye ;  I'm  sorry  I  stopped  ye." 

"  Look  here,  friend,"  said  I,  "  if  you  have  anything  impor- 
tant to  tell  us,  out  with  it ;  but  if  you  are  only  trying  to  bam- 
boozle us,  you  are  mistaken  in  your  game  ;  that's  all  I  have  to 
say." 

"  And  it's  said  very  well,  and  I  like  to  hear  a  chap  talk  up 
that  way ;  you  are  just  the  man  for  him — the  likes  of  ye. 
Morning  to  ye,  shipmates,  morning !  Oh  !  when  ye  get  there, 
tell  'em  I've  concluded  not  to  make  one  of  'em." 


THE    PROPHET.  105 

"  Ah,  my  dear  fellow,  you  can't  fool  us  that  way — you  can't 
fool  us.  It  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  for  a  man  to  look 
as  if  he  had  a  great  secret  in  him.'' 

"  Morning  to  ye,  shipmates,  morning." 

"  Morning  it  is,"  said  I.  "  Come  along,  Queequeg,  let's 
leave  this  crazy  man.      But  stop,  tell  me  your  name,  will  you  ? 

"  Elijah." 

Elijah  !  thought  I,  and  we  walked  away,  both  commenting, 
after  each  other's  fashion,  upon  this  ragged  old  sailor ; 
and  agreed  that  he  was  nothing  but  a  humbug,  trying  to  be  a 
bugbear.  But  we  had  not  gone  perhaps  above  a  hundred 
yards,  when  chancing  to  turn  a  corner,  and  looking  back  as  I 
did  so,  who  should  be  seen  but  Elijah  following  us,  though  at  a 
distance.  Somehow,  the  sight  of  him  struck  me  so,  that  I  said 
nothing  to  Queequeg  of  his  being  behind,  but  passed  on  with 
my  comrade,  anxious  to  see  whether  the  stranger  would  turn 
the  same  corner  that  we  did.  He  did ;  and  then  it  seemed 
to  me  that  he  was  dogging  us,  but  with  what  intent  I  could 
not  for  the  life  of  me  imagine.  This  circumstance,  coupled  with 
his  ambiguous,  half-hinting,  half-revealing,  shrouded  sort  of 
talk,  now  begat  in  me  all  kinds  of  vague  wonderments  and  half- 
apprehensions,  and  all  connected  with  the  Pequod ;  and  Cap- 
tain Ahab ;  and  the  leg  he  had  lost ;  and  the  Cape  Horn  fit ; 
and  the  silver  calabash ;  and  what  Captain  Peleg  had  said  of 
him,  when  I  left  the  ship  the  day  previous ;  and  the  prediction 
of  the  squaw  Tistig  ;  and  the  voyage  we  had  bound  ourselves 
to  sail ;   and  a  hundred  other  shadowy  things. 

I  was  resolved  to  satisfy  myself  whether  this  ragged  Elijah 
was  really  dogging  us  or  not,  and  with  that  intent  crossed  the 
way  with  Queequeg,  and  on  that  side  of  it  retraced  our  steps. 
But  Elijah  passed  on,  without  seeming  to  notice  us.  This 
relieved  me  ;  and  once  more,  and  finally  as  it  seemed  to  me,  I 
pronounced  him  in  my  heart,  a  humbug. 
5* 


106  ALL    ASTIR 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ALL    ASTIR. 

A  day  or  two  passed,  and  there  was  great  activity  aboard  the 
Pequod.  Not  only  were  the  old  sails  being  mended,  but  new 
sails  were  coming  on  board,  and  bolts  of  canvas,  and  coils  of 
rigging ;  in  short,  everything  betokened  that  the  ship's  prepara- 
tions were  hurrying  to  a  close.  Captain  Peleg  seldom  or  never 
went  ashore,  but  sat  in  his  wigwam  keeping  a  sharp  look-out 
upon  the  hands  :  Bildad  did  all  the  purchasing  and  providing  at 
the  stores ;  and  the  men  employed  in  the  hold  and  on  the  rig- 
ging were  working  till  long  after  night-fall. 

On  the  day  following  Queequeg's  signing  the  articles,  word 
was  given  at  all  the  inns  where  the  ship's  company  were  stop- 
ping, that  their  chests  must  be  on  board  before  night,  for  there 
was  no  telling  how  soon  the  vessel  might  be  sailing.  So 
Queequeg  and  I  got  down  our  traps,  resolving,  however,  to 
sleep  ashore  till  the  last.  But  it  seems  they  always  give  very 
long  notice  in  these  cases,  and  the  ship  did  not  sail  for  several 
days.  But  no  wonder ;  there  was  a  good  deal  to  be  done,  and 
there  is  no  telling  how  many  things  to  be  thought  of,  before 
the  Pequod  was  fully  equipped. 

Every  one  knows  what  a  multitude  of  things — beds,  sauce- 
pans, knives  and  forks,  shovels  and  tongs,  napkins,  nut-crackers, 
and  what  not,  are  indispensable  to  the  business  of  housekeep- 
ing. Just  so  with  whaling,  which  necessitates  a  three-years' 
housekeeping  upon  the  wide  ocean,  far  from  all  grocers,  coster- 
mongers,  doctors,  bakers,  and-  bankers.  And  though  this  also 
holds  true  of  merchant  vessels,  yet  not  by  any  means  to  the 
same  extent  as  with  whalemen.  For-  besides  the  great  length 
of  the  whaling  voyage,  the  numerous  articles  peculiar  to  the 


ALL    ASTIR.  107 


prosecution  of  the  fishery,  and  the  impossibility  of  replacing  them 
at  the  remote  harbors  usually  frequented,  it  must  be  remembered, 
that  of  all  ships,  whaling  vessels  are  the  most  exposed  to  acci- 
dents of  all  kinds,  and  especially  to  the  destruction  and  loss  of 
the  very  things  upon  which  the  success  of  the  voyage  most 
depends.  Hence,  the  spare  boats,  spare  spare,  and  spare  lines 
and  harpoons,  and  spare  everythings,  almost,  but  a  spare  Cap- 
tain and  duplicate  ship. 

At  the  period  of  our  arrival  at  the  Island,  the  heaviest  stor- 
age of  the  Pequod  had  been  almost  completed ;  comprising  her 
beef,  bread,  water,  fuel,  and  iron  hoops  and  staves.  But,  as  before 
hinted,  for  some  time  there  was  a  continual  fetching  and  carrying 
on  board  of  divers  odds  and  ends  of  things,  both  large  and  small. 

Chief  among  those  who  did  this  fetching  and  carrying  was 
Captain  Bildad's  sister,  a  lean  old  lady  of  a  most  determined 
and  indefatigable  spirit,  but  withal  very  kindhearted,  who  seemed 
resolved  that,  if  she  could  help  it,  nothing  should  be  found  want- 
ing in  the  Pequod,  after  once  fairly  getting  to  sea.  At  one  time 
she  would  come  on  board  with  a  jar  of  pickles  for  the  steward's 
pantry ;  another  time  with  a  bunch  of  quills  for  the  chief  mate's 
desk,  where  he  kept  his  log  ;  a  third  time  with  a  roll  of  flannel 
for  the  small  of  some  one's  rheumatic  back.  Never  did  any 
woman  better  deserve  her  name,  which  was  Charity — Aunt 
Charity,  as  everybody  called  her.  And  like  a  sister  of  charity 
did  this  charitable  Aunt  Charity  bustle  about  hither  and  thither, 
ready  to  turn  her  hand  and  heart  to  anything  that  promised  to 
yield  safety,  comfort,  and  consolation  to  all  on  board  a  ship  in 
which  her  beloved  brother  Bildad  was  concerned,  and  in  which 
she  herself  owned  a  score  or  two  of  well-saved  dollars. 

But  it  was  startling  to  see  this  excellent  hearted  Quakeress 
coming  on  board,  as  she  did  the  last  day,  with  a  long  oil-ladle 
in  one  hand,  and  a  still  longer  whaling  lance  in  the  other.  Nor 
was  Bildad  himself  nor  Captain  Peleg  at  all  backward.  As  for 
Bildad,  he  carried  about  with  him   a  long  list  of  the  articles 


108  GOING    ABOARD. 

needed,  and  at  every  fresh  arrival,  down  went  his  mark  opposite 
that  article  upon  the  paper.  Every  once  and  a  while  Peleg  came 
hobbling  out  of  his  whalebone  den,  roaring  at  the  men  down 
the  hatchways,  roaring  up  to  the  riggers  at  the  mast-head,  and 
then  concluded  by  roaring  back  into  his  wigwam. 

During  these  days  of  preparation,  Queequeg  and  I  often  visited 
the  craft,  and  as  often  I  asked  about  Captain  Ahab,  and  how 
he  was,  and  when  he  was  going  to  come  on  board  his  ship.  To 
these  questions  they  would  answer,  that  he  was  getting  better 
and  better,  and  was  expected  aboard  every  day  ;  meantime,  the 
two  Captains,  Peleg  and  Bildad,  could  attend  to  everything 
necessary  to  fit  the  vessel  for  the  voyage.  If  I  had  been  down- 
right honest  with  myself,  I  would  have  seen  very  plainly  in  my  heart 
that  I  did  but  half  fancy  being  committed  this  way  to  so  long  a 
voyage,  without  once  laying  my  eyes  on  the  man  who  was  to  be 
the  absolute  dictator  of  it,  so  soon  as  the  ship  sailed  out  upon  the 
open  sea.  But  when  a  man  suspects  any  wrong,  it  sometimes 
happens  that  if  he  be  already  involved  in  the  matter,  he  insensi- 
bly strives  to  cover  up  his  suspicions  even  from  himself.  And 
much  this  way  it  was  with  me.  I  said  nothing,  and  tried  to 
think  nothing. 

At  last  it  was  given  out  that  some  time  next  day  the  ship 
would  certainly  sail.  So  next  morning,  Queequeg  and  I  took  a 
very  early  start. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

GOING    ABOARD. 


It  was   nearly  six  o'clock,  but  only  grey  imperfect  misty 
dawn,  when  we  drew  nigh  the  wharf. 

"  There  are  some  sailors  running  ahead  there,  if  I  see  right," 


GOING    ABOARD.  109 

said  I  to  Queequeg,  "  it  can't  be  shadows ;  she's  off  by  sunrise, 
I  guess  ;  come  on !'' 

"  Avast !"  cried  a  voice,  whose  owner  at  the  same  time 
coming  close  behind  us,  laid  a  hand  upon  both  our  shoulders, 
and  then  insinuating  himself  between  us,  stood  stooping  forward 
a  little,  in  the  uncertain  twilight,  strangely  peering  from  Quee- 
queg to  me.     It  was  Elijah. 

"  Going  aboard  ?" 

"  Hands  off,  will  you,"  said  I. 

"  Lookee  here,"  said  Queequeg,  shaking  himself,  "  go  'way  !" 

"  Aint  going  aboard,  then  ?" 

"  Yes,  we  are,"  said  I,  "  but  what  business  is  that  of  yours  ? 
Do  you  know,  Mr.  Elijah,  that  I  consider  you  a  little  imper- 
tinent ?" 

"  No,  no,  no ;  I  wasn't  aware  of  that,"  said  Elijah,  slowly 
and  wonderingly  looking  from  me  to  Queequeg,  with  the  most 
unaccountable  glances. 

"  Elijah,"  said  I,  "  you  will  oblige  my  friend  and  me  by  with- 
drawing. We  are  going  to  the  Indian  and  Pacific  Oceans,  and 
would  prefer  not  to  be  detained." 

"  Ye  be,  be  ye  ?     Coming  back  afore  breakfast  ?" 

"  He's  cracked,  Queequeg,"  said  I,  "  come  on." 

"  Holloa !"  cried  stationary  Elijah,  hailing  us  when  we  had 
removed  a  few  paces. 

"  Never  mind  him,"  said  I,  "  Queequeg,  come  on." 

But  he  stole  up  to  us  again,  and  suddenly  clapping  his  hand 
on  my  shoulder,  said — "  Did  ye  see  anything  looking  like  men 
going  towards  that  ship  a  while  ago  f ' 

Struck  by  this  plain  matter-of-fact  question,  I  answered,  say- 
ing "  Yes,  I  thought  I  did  see  four  or  five  men ;  but  it  was 
too  dim  to  be  sure." 

"Very  dim,  very  dim,"  said  Elijah.     "Morning  to  ye." 

Once  more  we  quitted  him ;  but  once  more  he  came  softly 
after  us ;  and  touching  my  shoulder  again,  said,  "  See  if  you 
can  find  'em  now,  will  ye  V 


110  GOING    ABOARD. 

"Find  who?" 

"  Morning  to  ye !  morning  to  ye !"  he  rejoined,  again 
moving  off.  "  Oh  !  I  was  going  to  warn  ye  against — hut  never 
mind,  never  mind — it's  all  one,  all  in  the  family  too ; — sharp 
frost  this  morning,  ain't  it  ?  Good  hye  to  ye.  Shan't  see  ye 
again  very  soon,  I  guess ;  unless  it's  before  the  Grand  Jury." 
And  with  these  cracked  words  he  finally  departed,  leaving  me, 
for  the  moment,  in  no  small  wonderment  at  his  frantic  impu- 
dence. 

At  last,  stepping  on  board  the  Pequod,  we  found  everything 
in  profound  quiet,  not  a  soul  moving.  The  cabin  entrance  was 
locked  within ;  the  hatches  were  all  on,  and  lumbered  with  coils 
of  rigging.  Going  forward  to  the  forecastle,  we  found  the  slide 
of  the  scuttle  open.  Seeing  a  light,  we  went  down,  and  found 
only  an  old  rigger  there,  wrapped  in  a  tattered  pea-jacket. 
He  was  thrown  at  whole  length  upon  two  chests,  his  face  down- 
wards and  inclosed  in  his  folded  arms.  The  profoundest  slum- 
ber slept  upon  him. 

"  Those  sailors  we  saw,  Queequeg,  where  can  they  have  gone 
to  ?"  said  I,  looking  dubiously  at  the  sleeper.  But  it  seemed 
that,  when  on  the  wharf,  Queequeg  had  not  at  all  noticed  what 
I  now  alluded  to  ;  hence  I  would  have  thought  myself  to  have 
been  optically  deceived  in  that  matter,  were  it  not  for  Elijah's 
otherwise  inexplicable  question.  But  I  beat  the  thing  down  ; 
and  again  marking  the  sleeper,  jocularly  hinted  to  Queequeg 
that  perhaps  we  had  best  sit  up  with  the  body ;  telling  him  to 
establish  himself  accordingly.  He  put  his  hand  upon  the 
sleeper's  rear,  as  though  feeling  if  it  was  soft  enough ;  and 
then,  without  more  ado,  sat  quietly  down  there. 

"  Gracious  !  Queequeg,  don't  sit  there,"  -said  I. 

"  Oh !  perry  dood  seat,"  said  Queequeg,  "  my  country  way  ; 
won't  hurt  him  face." 

"  Face !"  said  I,  "  call  that  his  face  ?  very  benevolent  coun- 
tenance then ;  but  how  hard  he  breathes,  he's  heaving  himself; 
get    off,    Queequeg,    you    are    heaw,    it's    grinding   the   face 


GOING    ABOARD.  Ill 

of  the  poor.  Get  off,  Queequeg !  Look,  he'll  twitch  you 
off  soon.     I  wonder  he  don't  wake." 

Queequeg  removed  himself  to  just  beyond  the  head  of  the 
sleeper,  and  lighted  his  tomahawk  pipe.  I  sat  at  the  feet. 
We  kept  the  pipe  passing  over  the  sleeper,  from  one  to  the 
other.  Meanwhile,  upon  questioning  him  in  his  broken  fashion, 
Queequeg  gave  me  to  understand  that,  in  his  land,  owing 
to  the  absence  of  settees  and  sofas  of  all  sorts,  the  king, 
chiefs,  and  great  people  generally,  were  in  the  custom  of  fatten- 
ing some  of  the  lower  orders  for  ottomans ;  and  to  furnish 
a  house  comfortably  in  that  respect,  you  had  only  to  buy  up 
eight  or  ten  lazy  fellows,  and  lay  them  round  in  the  piers  and 
alcoves.  Besides,  it  was  very  convenient  on  an  excursion ; 
much  better  than  those  garden-chairs  which  are  convertible 
into  walking-sticks  ;  upon  occasion,  a  chief  calling  his  attend- 
ant, and  desiring  him  to  make  a  settee  of  himself  under  a 
spreading  tree,  perhaps  in  some  damp  marshy  place. 

While  narrating  these  things,  every  time  Queequeg  received 
the  tomahawk  from  me,  he  nourished  the  hatchet-side  of  it 
over  the  sleeper's  head. 

"  What's  that  for,  Queequeg  ?" 

"  Perry  easy,  kill-e ;  oh  !  perry  easy  !" 

He  was  going  on  with  some  wild  reminiscences  about  his 
tomahawk-pipe,  which,  it  seemed,  had  in  its  two  uses  both 
brained  his  foes  and  soothed  his  soul,  when  we  were  directly 
attracted  to  the  sleeping  rigger.  The  strong  vapor  now  com- 
pletely filling  the  contracted  hole,  it  began  to  tell  upon  him. 
He  breathed  with  a  sort  of  muffiedness ;  then  seemed  troubled 
in  the  nose  ;  then  revolved  over  once  or  twice ;  then  sat  up  and 
rubbed  his  eyes. 

"  Holloa !"  he  breathed  at  last,  "  who  be  ye  smokers  ?" 

"  Shipped  men,"  answered  I,   "  when  does  she  sail  ?" 

"  Aye,  aye,  ye  are  going  in  her,  be  ye  ?  She  sails  to-day. 
The  Captain  came  aboard  last  night." 


112  MERRY    CHRISTMAS. 

"  What  Captain  ?— Ahab  ?" 

"  Who  but  him  indeed  ?" 

I  was  going  to  ask  him  some  further  questions  concerning 
Ahab,  when  we  heard  a  noise  on  deck. 

1  "  Holloa  !  Starbuck's  astir,"  said  the  rigger.  "  He's  a  lively 
chief  mate,  that ;  good  man,  and  a  pious  ;  but  all  alive  now, 
I  must  turn  to."  And  so  saying  he  went  on  deck,  and  we 
followed. 

It  was  now  clear  sunrise.  Soon  the  crew  came  on  board  in 
twos  and  threes ;  the  riggers  bestirred  themselves ;  the  mates 
were  actively  engaged ;  and  several  of  the  shore  people  were 
busy  in  bringing  various  last  things  on  board.  Meanwhile 
Captain  Ahab  remained  invisibly  enshrined  within  his  cabin. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

MERRY    CHRISTMAS. 

At  length,  towai'ds  noon,  upon  the  final  dismissal  of  the  ship's 
riggers,  and  after  the  Pequod  had  been  hauled  out  from  the 
wharf,  and  after  the  ever-thoughtful  Charity  had  come  off  in  a 
whaleboat,  with  her  last  gift — a  night-cap  for  Stubb,  the  second 
mate,  her  brother-in-law,  and  a  spare  Bible  for  the  steward — 
after  all  this,  the  two  captains,  Peleg  and  Bildad,  issued  from 
the  cabin,  and  turning  to  the  chief  mate,  Peleg  said : 

"  Now,  Mr.  Starbuck,  are  you  sure  everything  is  right  ? 
Captain  Ahab  is  all  ready — just  spoke  to  him — nothing  more  to 
be  got  from  shore,  eh  ?  Well,  call  all  hands,  then.  Muster 
'em  aft  here — blast  'em  ! " 

"  No  need  of  profane  words,  however  great  the  hurry,  Peleg," 
said  Bildad,  "  but  away  with  thee,  friend  Starbuck,  and  do  our 
bidding." 

How  now !     Here  upon   the  very  point  of  starting  for  the 


MERRY    CHRISTMAS.  113 

voyage,  Captain  Peleg  and  Captain  Bildad  were  going  it  with 
a  high  hand  on  the  quarter-deck,  just  as  if  they  were  to  be 
joint-commanders  at  sea,  as  well  as  to  all  appearances  in  port. 
And,  as  for  Captain  Ahab,  no  sign  of  him  was  yet  to  be  seen ; 
only,  they  said  he  was  in  the  cabin.  But  then,  the  idea  was, 
that  his  presence  was  by  no  means  necessary  in  getting  the  ship 
under  weigh,  and  steering  her  well  out  to  sea.  Indeed,  as  that 
was  not  at  all  his  proper  business,  but  the  pilot's ;  and  as  he  was 
not  yet  completely  recovered — so  they  said — therefore,  Captain 
Ahab  stayed  below.  And  all  this  seemed  natural  enough ; 
especially  as  in  the  merchant  service  many  captains  never  show 
themselves  on  deck  for  a  considerable  time  after  heaving  up  the 
anchor,  but  remain  over  the  cabin  table,  having  a  farewell 
merry-making  with  their  shore  friends,  before  they  quit  the  ship 
for  good  with  the  pilot. 

But  there  was  not  much  chance  to  think  over  the  matter,  for 
Captain  Peleg  was  now  all  alive.  He  seemed  to  do  most  of 
the  talking  and  commanding,  and  not  Bildad. 

"Aft  here,  ye  sons  of  bachelors,"  he  cried,  as  the  sailors 
lingered  at  the  main-mast.     "  Mr.  Starbuck,  drive  'em  aft." 

"  Strike  the  tent  there ! " — was  the  next  order.  As  I  hinted 
before,  this  whalebone  marquee  was  never  pitched  except  in 
port ;  and  on  board  the  Pequod,  for  thirty  years,  the  order  to 
strike  the  tent  was  well  known  to  be  the  next  thing  to  heaving 
up  the  anchor. 

"  Man  the  capstan  !  Blood  and  thunder ! — jump ! " — was  the 
next  command,  and  the  crew  sprang  for  the  handspikes. 

Now,  in  getting  under  weigh,  the  station  generally  occupied 
by  the  pilot  is  the  forward  part  of  the  ship.  And  here  Bildad, 
who,  with  Peleg,  be  it  known,  in  addition  to  his  other  offices, 
was  one  of  the  licensed  pilots  of  the  port — he  being  suspected 
to  have  got  himself  made  a  pilot  in  order  to  save  the  Nantucket 
pilot-fee  to  all  the  ships  he  was  concerned  in,  for  he  never 
piloted  any  other  craft— Bildad,  I  say,  might  now  be  seenac- 


114  MERRY    CHRISTMAS. 

tively  engaged  in  looking  over  the  bows  for  the  approaching 
anchor,  and  at  intervals  singing  what  seemed  a  dismal  stave  of 
psalmody,  to  cheer  the  hands  at  the  windlass,  who  roared  forth 
some  sort  of  a  chorus  about  the  girls  in  Booble  Alley,  with 
hearty  good  will.  Nevertheless,  not  three  days  previous,  Bildad 
had  told  them  that  no  profane  songs  would  be  allowed  on  board 
the  Pequod,  particularly  in  getting  under  weigh  ;  and  Charity, 
his  sister,  had  placed  a  small  choice  copy  of  Watts  in  each 
seaman's  berth. 

Meantime,  overseeing  the  other  part  of  the  ship,  Captain 
Peleg  ripped  and  swore  astern  in  the  most  frightful  manner. 
I  almost  thought  he  would  sink  the  ship  before  the  anchor  could 
be  got  up ;  involuntarily  I  paused  on  my  handspike,  and  told 
Queequeg  to  do  the  same,  thinking  of  the  perils  we  both  ran, 
in  starting  on  the  voyage  with  such  a  devil  for  a  pilot.  I  was 
comforting  myself,  however,  with  the  thought  that  in  pious 
Bildad  might  be  found  some  salvation,  spite  of  his  seven  hun- 
dred and  seventy-seventh  lay  ;  when  I  felt  a  sudden  sharp  poke 
in  my  rear,  and  turning  round,  was  horrified  at  the  apparition  of 
Captain  Peleg  in  the  act  of  withdrawing  his  leg  from  my  im- 
mediate vicinity.     That  was  my  first  kick. 

"  Is  that  the  way  they  heave  in  the  marchant  service  ?  "  he 
roared.  "  Spring,  thou  sheep-head ;  spring,  and  break  thy  back- 
bone !  Why  don't  ye  spring,  I  say,  all  of  ye — spring !  Quo- 
hag  !  spring,  thou  chap  with  the  red  whiskers ;  spring  there, 
Scotch-cap ;  spring,  thou  green  pants.  Spring,  I  say,  all  of  ye, 
and  spring  your  eyes  out ! "  And  so  saying,  he  moved  along 
the  windlass,  here  and  there  using  his  leg  very  freely,  while  im- 
perturbable Bildad  kept  leading  off  with  his  psalmody.  Thinks 
I,  Captain  Peleg  must  have  been  drinking  something  to-day. 

At  last  the  anchor  was  up,  the  sails  were  set,  and  off  we 
glided.  It  was  a  short,  cold  Christmas ;  and  as  the  short  northern 
day  merged  into  night,  we  found  ourselves  almost  broad  upon 
the  wintry  ocean,  whose  freezing  spray  cased  us  in  ice,  as  in 


MERRY    CHRISTMAS  115 

polished  armor.  The  long  rows  of  teeth  on  the  bulwarks 
glistened  in  the  moonlight ;  and  like  the  white  ivory  tusks  of 
some  huge  elephant,  vast  curving  icicles  depended  from  the 
bows. 

Lank  Bildad,  as  pilot,  headed  the  first  watch,  and  ever  and 
anon,  as  the  old  craft  deep  dived  into  the  green  seas,  and  sent 
the  shivering  frost  all  over  her,  and  the  winds  howled,  and  the 
cordage  rang,  his  steady  notes  were  heard, — 

"  Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood, 
Stand  dressed  in  living  green. 
So  to  the  Jews  old  Canaan  stood, 
While  Jordan  rolled  between." 

Never  did  those  sweet  words  sound  more  sweetly  to  me  than 
then.  They  were  full  of  hope  and  fruition.  Spite  of  this 
frigid  winter  night  in  the  boisterous  Atlantic,  spite  of  my  wet 
feet  and  wetter  jacket,  there  was  yet,  it  then  seemed  to  me, 
many  a  pleasant  haven  in  store ;  and  meads  and  glades  so 
eternally  vernal,  that  the  grass  shot  up  by  the  spring,  untrodden, 
unwilted,  remains  at  midsummer. 

At  last  we  gained  such  an  offing,  that  the  two  pilots  were 
needed  no  longer.  The  stout  sail-boat  that  had  accompanied 
us  began  ranging  alongside. 

It  was  curious  and  not  unpleasing,  how  Peleg  and  Bildad 
were  affected  at  this  juncture,  especially  Captain  Bildad.  For 
loath  to  depart,  yet ;  very  loath  to  leave,  for  good,  a  ship  bound 
on  so  long  and  perilous  a  voyage — beyond  both  stormy  Capes ; 
a  ship  in  which  some  thousands  of  his  hard  earned  dollars  were 
invested ;  a  ship,  in  which  an  old  shipmate  sailed  as  captain  ;  a 
man  almost  as  old  as  he,  once  more  starting  to  encounter  all  the 
terrors  of  the  pitiless  jaw ;  loath  to  say  good-bye  to  a  thing  so 
eveiy  way  brimful  of  every  intei-est  to  him, — poor  old  Bildad 
lingered  long ;  paced  the  deck  with  anxious  strides  ;  ran  down  j' 
into  the  cabin  to  speak  another  farewell  word  there ;  again  came 


116  MERRY    CHRISTMAS. 

on  deck,  and  looked  to  windward ;  looked  towards  the  wide  and 
endless  waters,  only  bounded  by  the  far-off  unseen  Eastern 
Continents  ;  looked  towards  the  land ;  looked  aloft ;  looked  right 
and  left ;  looked  everywhere  and  nowhere  ;  and  at  last,  me- 
chanically coiling  a  rope  upon  its  pin,  convulsively  grasped  stout 
Peleg  by  the  hand,  and  holding  up  a  lantern,  for  a  moment 
stood  gazing  heroically  in  his  face,  as  much  as  to  say,  "Never- 
theless, friend  Peleg,  I  can  stand  it ;  yes,  I  can." 

As  for  Peleg  himself,  he  took  it  more  like  a  philosopher ;  but 
for  all  his  philosophy,  there  was  a  tear  twinkling  in  his  eye, 
when  the  lantern  came  too  near.  And  he,  too,  did  not  a  little 
run  from  cabin  to  deck — now  a  word  below,  and  now  a  word 
with  Starbuck,  the  chief  mate. 

But,  at  last,  he  turned  to  his  comrade,  with  a  final  sort  of  look 
about  him, — "  Captain  Bildad — come,  old  shipmate,  we  must  go. 
Back  the  main-yard  there !  Boat  ahoy  1  Stand  by  to  come 
close  alongside,  now !  Careful,  careful ! — come,  Bildad,  boy — • 
say  your  last.  Luck  to  ye,  Starbuck— luck  to  ye,  Mr.  Stubb— 
luck  to  ye,  Mr.  Flask — good-bye,  and  good  luck  to  ye  all — and 
this  day  three  years  I'll  have  a  hot  supper  smoking  for  ye  in  old 
Nantucket.     Hurrah  and  away  ! " 

"  God  bless  ye,  and  have  ye  in  His  holy  keeping,  men,"  mur- 
mured old  Bildad,  almost  incoherently.  "  I  hope  ye'll  have  fine 
weather  now,  so  that  Captain  Ahab  may  soon  be  moving  among 
ye — a  pleasant  sun  is  all  he  needs,  and  ye'll  have  plenty  of  them 
in  the  tropic  voyage  ye  go.  Be  careful  in  the  hunt,  ye  mates. 
Don't  stave  the  boats  needlessly,  ye  harpooneers ;  good  white 
cedar  plank  is  raised  full  three  per  cent,  within  the  year.  Don't 
forget  your  prayers,  either.  Mr.  Starbuck,  mind  that  cooper 
don't  waste  the  spare  staves.  Oh  !  the  sail-needles  are  in  the  green 
locker !  Don't  whale  it  too  much  a'  Lord's  days,  men ;  but 
don't  miss  a  fair  chance  either,  that's  rejecting  Heaven's  good 
gifts.  Have  an  eye  to  the  molasses  tierce,  Mr.  Stubb;  it  wa?. 
a  little  leaky,  I  thought.     If  ye  touch  at  the  islands,  Mi .  Flask, 


THELEESHORE.  117 

beware  of  fornication.  Good-bye,  good-bye !  Don't  keep  that 
cheese  too  long  down  in  the  hold,  Mr.  Starbuck ;  it'll  spoil. 
Be  careful  with  the  butter — twenty  cents  the  pound  it  was,  and 
mind  ye,  if — " 

"Come,  come,  Captain  Bildad;  stop  palavering, — away!" 
and  with  that,  Peleg  hurried  him  over  the  side,  and  both  dropt 
into  the  boat.  i 

Ship  and  boat  diverged ;  the  cold,  damp  night  breeze  blew 
between ;  a  screaming  gull  flew  overhead ;  the  two  hulls 
wildly  rolled ;  we  gave  three  heavy-hearted  cheers,  and  blindly 
plunged  like  fate  into  the  lone  Atlantic. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE    LEE    SHORE. 

Some  chapters  back,  one  Bulkirgton  was  spoken  of,  a  tall, 
new-landed  mariner,  encountered  in  New  Bedford  at  the  inn. 

"When  on  that  shivering  winter's  night,  the  Pequod  thrust 
her  vindictive  bows  into  the  cold  malicious  waves,  who  should 
I  see  standing  at  her  helm  but  Bulkington !  I  looked  with 
sympathetic  awe  and  fearfulness  upon  the  man,  who  in  mid- 
winter just  landed  from  a  four  years'  dangerous  voyage,  could 
so  unrestingly  push  off  again  for  still  another  tempestuous  term. 
The. land  seemed  scorching  to  his  feet.  Wonderfullest  things 
are  ever  the  unmentionable ;  deep  memories  yield  no  epitaphs  ; 
this  six-inch  chapter  is  the  stoneless  grave  of  Bulkington.  Let 
me  only  say  that  it  fared  with  him  as  with  the  storm-tossed 
ship,  that  miserably  drives  along  the  leeward  land.  The  port 
would  fain  give  succor ;  the  port  is  pitiful ;  in  the  port  is  safety, 
comfort,  hearthstone,  supper,  warm  blankets,  friends,  all  that's 
kind  to  our  mortalities.     But  in  that  gale,  the  port,  the  land, 


118  THE    ADVOCATE. 

is  that  ship's  direst  jeopardy  ;  she  must  fly  all  hospitality  ;  one 
touch  of  land,  though  it  but  graze  the  keel,  would  make  her 
shudder  through  and  through.  With  all  her  might  she 
crowds  all  sail  off  shore ;  in  so  doing,  fights  'gainst  the  very 
winds  that  fain  would  blow  her  homeward ;  seeks  all  the  lashed 
sea's  landlessness  again  ;  for  refuge's  sake  forlornly  rushing  into 
peril ;  her  only  friend  her  bitterest  foe  ! 

Know  ye,  now,  Bulkington  ?  Glimpses  do  ye  seem  to  see  of 
that  mortally  intolerable  truth ;  that  all  deep,  earnest  thinking 
is  but  the  intrepid  effort  of  the  soul  to  keep  the  open  independ- 
ence of  her  sea  ;  while  the  wildest  winds  of  heaven  and  earth 
conspire  to  cast  her  on  the  treacherous,  slavish  shore  ? 

But  as  in  landlessness  alone  resides  the  highest  truth,  shore- 
less, indefinite  as  God — so,  better  is  it  to  perish  in  that  howl- 
ing infinite,  than  be  ingloriously  dashed  upon  the  lee,  even  if 
that  were  safety  !  For  worm-like,  then,  oh !  who  would  craven 
crawl  to  land !  Terrors  of  the  terrible !  is  all  this  agony  so 
vain  ?  Take  heart,  take  heart,  0  Bulkington !  Bear  thee 
grimly,  demigod  !  Up  from  the  spray  of  thy  ocean-perishing — 
straight  up,  leaps  thy  apotheosis ! 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

THE    ADVOCATE. 

As  Queequeg  and  I  are  now  fairly  embarked  in  this  business 
of  whaling ;  and  as  this  business  of  whaling  has  somehow  come 
to  be  regarded  among  landsmen  as  a  rather  unpoetical  and  dis- 
reputable pursuit ;  therefore,  I  am  all  anxiety  to  convince  ye, 
ye  landsmen,  of  the  injustice  hereby  done  to  us  hunters  of 
whales. 

In  the  first  place,  it  may  be  deemed  almost  superfluous  to 


THE    ADVOCATE.  IJ9 

establish  the  fact,  that  among  people  at  large,  the  business  of 
whaling  is  not  accounted  on  a  level  with  what  are  called  the 
liberal  professions.  If  a  stranger  were  introduced  into  any 
miscellaneous  metropolitan  society,  it  would  but  slightly  advance 
the  general  opinion  of  his  merits,  were  he  presented  to  the 
company  as  a  harpooneer,  say ;  and  if  in  emulation  of  the 
naval  officers  he  should  append  the  initials  S.  W.  F.  (Sperm 
"Whale  Fishery)  to  his  visiting  card,  such  a  procedure  would 
be  deemed  pre-eminently  presuming  and  ridiculous. 

Doubtless  one  leading  reason  why  the  world  declines  honor- 
ing us  whalemen,  is  this :  they  think  that,  at  best,  our  vocation 
amounts  to  a  butchering  sort  of  business ;  and  that  when  actively  - 
engaged  therein,  we  are  surrounded  by  all  manner  of  defilements. 
Butchers  we  are,  that  is  true.  But  butchers,  also,  and  butchers 
of  the  bloodiest  badge  have  been  all  Martial  Commanders 
whom  the  world  invariably  delights  to  honor.  And  as  for  the 
matter  of  the  alleged  uncleanliness  of  our  business,  ye  shall 
soon  be  initiated  into  certain  facts  hitherto  pretty  generally 
unknown,  and  which,  upon  the  whole,  will  triumphantly  plant 
the  sperm  whale-ship  at  least  among  the  cleanliest  things  of 
this  tidy  earth.  But  even  granting  the  charge  in  question  to 
be  true;  what  disordered  slippery  decks  of  a  whale-ship  are 
comparable  to  the  unspeakable  carrion  of  those  battle-fields 
from  which  so  many  soldiers  return  to  drink  in  all  ladies' 
plaudits  ?  And  if  the  idea  of  peril  so  much  enhances  the 
popular  conceit  of  the  soldier's  profession;  let  me  assure  ye 
that  many  a  veteran  who  has  freely  marched  up  to  a  battery, 
would  quickly  recoil  at  the  apparition  of  the  sperm  whale's 
vast  tail,  fanning  into  eddies  the  air  over  his  head.  For  what 
are  the  comprehensible  terrors  of  man  compared  with  the  inter- 
linked terrors  and  wonders  of  God  ! 

But,  though  the  world  scouts  at  us  whale  hunters,  yet  does 
it  unwittingly  pay  us  the  profoundest  homage ;  yea,  an  all- 
abounding  adoration !  for  almost  all  the  tapers,  lamps,   and 


120  THE    ADVOCATE. 

candles  that  burn  round  the  globe,  burn,  as  before  so  many 
shrines,  to  our  glory  ! 

But  look  at  this  matter  in  other  lights ;  weigh  it  in  all  sorts 
of  scales ;  see  what  we  whalemen  are,  and  have  been. 

Why  did  the  Dutch  in  Pe  Witt's  time  have  admirals  of  their 
whaling  fleets  ?  Why  did  Louis  XVI.  of  France,  at  his  own 
personal  expense,  fit  out  whaling  ships  from  Dunkirk,  and 
politely  invite  to  that  town  some  score  or  two  of  families  from 
our  own  island  of  Nantucket  ?.  Why  did  Britain  between  the 
years  1750  and  1*788  pay  to  her  whalemen  in  bounties  upwards 
of  £1,000,000  ?  And  lastly,  how  comes  it  that  we  whalemen  of 
America  now  outnumber  all  the  rest  of  the  banded  whalemen 
in  the  world  ;  sail  a  navy  of  upwards  of  seven  hundred  vessels ; 
manned  by  eighteen  thousand  men ;  yearly  consuming  4,000,000 
of  dollars ;  the  ships  worth,  at  the  time  of  sailing,  $20,000,000  ; 
and  eveiy  year  importing  into  our  harbors  a  well  reaped  harvest 
of  $7,000,000.  How  comes  all  this,  if  there  be  not  something 
puissant  in  whaling  ? 

But  this  is  not  the.  half;  look  again. 

.  I  freely  assert,  that  the  cosmopolite  philosopher  cannot,  for 
his  life,  point  out  one  single  peaceful  influence,  which  within  the 
last  sixty  years  has  operated  more  potentially  upon  the  whole 
broad  world,  taken  in  one  aggregate,  than  the  high  and  mighty 
business  of  whaling.  One  way  and  another,  it  has  begotten  events 
so  remarkable  in  themselves,  and  so  continuously  momentous  in 
their  sequential  issues,  that  whaling  may  well  be  regarded  as 
that  Egyptian  mother,  who  bore  offspring  themselves  pregnant 
from  her  womb.  It  would  be  a  hopeless,  endless  task  to 
catalogue  all  these  things.  Let  a  handful  suffice.  For  many 
years  past  the  whale-ship  has  been  the  pioneer  in  ferreting  out 
the  remotest  and  least  known  parts  of  the.  earth.  She  has 
explored  seas  and  archipelagoes  which  had  no  chart,  where 
no  Cook  or  Vancouver  had  .ever,  sailed.  If  American  and 
European    men-of-war    now    peacefully   ride  in   once  savage 


THE    ADVOCATE.  121 

harbors,  let  them  fire  salutes  to  the  honor  and  the  glory  of  the 
whale-ship,  which  originally  showed  them,  the  way,  and  first  in- 
terpreted between  them  and  the  savages.  They  may  celebrate 
as  they  will  the  heroes  of  Exploring  Expeditions,  your  Cookes, 
your  Krusensterns ;  but  I  say  that  scores  of  anonymous  Cap- 
tains have  sailed  out  of  Nantucket,  that  were  as  great,  and 
greater  than  your  Cooke  and  your  Krusenstern.  For  in  their 
succorless  empty-handedness,  they,  in  the  heathenish  sharked 
waters,  and  by  the  beaches  of  unrecorded,  javelin  islands, 
battled  with  virgin  wonders  and  terrors  that  Cooke  with  all  his 
marines  and  muskets  would  not  willingly  have  dared.  All  that 
is  made  such  a  flourish  of  in  the  old  South  Sea  Voyages,  those 
things  were  but  the  life-time  commonplaces  of  our  heroic 
Nantucketers.  Often,  adventures  which  Vancouver  dedi- 
cates three  chapters  to,  these  men  accounted  unworthy  of 
being  set  down  in  the  ship's  common  log.  Ah,  the  wrorld  !  Oh, 
the  world  ! 

Until  the  whale  fishery  rounded  Cape  Horn,  no  commerce 
but  colonial,  scarcely  any  intercourse  but  colonial,  was  carried 
on  between  Europe  and  the  long  line  of  the  opulent  Spanish 
provinces  on  the  Pacific  coast.  It  was  the  whaleman  who  first 
broke  through  the  jealous  policy  of  the  Spanish  crown,  touching 
those  colonies  ;  and,  if  space  permitted,  it  might  be  distinctly 
shown  how  from  those  whalemen  at  last  eventuated  the  libera- 
tion of  Peru,  Chili,  and  Bolivia  from  the  yoke  of  Old  Spain, 
and  the  establishment  of  the  eternal  democracy  in  those  parts. 

That  great  America  on  the  other  side  of  the  sphere,  Aus- 
tralia, was  given  to  the  enlightened  world  by  the  whaleman. 
After  its  first  blunder-born  discovery  by  a  Dutchman,  all  other 
ships  long  shunned  those  shores  as  pestiferously  barbarous  ;  but 
the  whale-ship  touched  there.  The  whale-ship  is  the  true 
mother  of  that  now  mighty  colony.  Moreover,  in  the  infancy 
of  the  first  Australian  settlement,  the  emigrants  were  several 
times  saved  from  starvation  by  the  benevolent  biscuit  of  the 

6 


122  THE    ADVOCATE. 

whale-ship  luckily  dropping  an  anchor  in  their  waters.  The 
uncounted  isles  of  all  Polynesia  confess  the  same  truth,  and 
do  commercial  homage  to  the  whale-ship,  that  cleared  the  way 
for  the  missionary  and  the  merchant,  and  in  many  cases  carried 
the  primitive  missionaries  to  their  first  destinations.  If  that 
douhle-bolted  land,  Japan,  is  ever  to  become  hospitable,  it  is  the 
whale-ship  alone  to  whom  the  credit  will  be  due ;  for  already 
she  is  on  the  threshold. 

But  if,  in  the  face  of  all  this,  you  still  declare  that  whaling 
has  no  assthetically  noble  associations  connected  with  it,  then  am 
I  ready  to  shiver  fifty  lances  with  you  there,  and  unhorse  you 
with  a  split  helmet  every  time. 

The  whale  has  no  famous  author,  and  whaling  no  famous 
chronicler,  you  will  say. 

The  whale  no  famous  author,  and  whaling  no  famous  chro- 
nicler ?  Who  wrote  the  first  account  of  our  Leviathan  ?  Who 
but  mighty  Job  !  And  who  composed  the  first  narrative  of  a 
whaling-voyage  ?  Who,  but  no  less  a  prince  than  Alfred  the 
Great,  who,  with  his  own  royal  pen,  took  down  the  words  from 
Other,  the  Norwegian  whale-hunter  of  those  times  !  And  who 
pronounced  our  glowing  eulogy  in  Parliament  ?  Who,  but 
Edmund  Burke ! 

True  enough,  but  then  whalemen  themselves  are  poor  devils ; 
they  have  no  good  blood  in  their  veins. 

No  good  blood  in  their  veins  ?  They  have  something  better 
than  royal  blood  there.  The  grandmother  of  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin was  Mary  Morrel ;  afterwards,  by  marriage,  Mary  Folger, 
one  of  the  .old  settlers  of  Nantucket,  and  the  ancestress  to  a 
.Jong  line  of  Folgers  and  harpooneers — all  kith  and  kin  to  noble 
Benjamin — 1jhis  day  darting  th.e  barbed  iron  from  one  side  of 
the  world  to  the  other. 

Good  again;  but  then  all  .confess  ,th#  somehow  whaling  is 
not  respectable.  — 

Whaling  not  respectable  ?     Whaling    is    imperial !     By 


THE    ADVOCATE.  123 

old  English  statutory  law,  the  whale  is  declared  "a  royal 
fish."* 

Oh,  that's  only  nominal !  The  whale  himself  has  never 
figured  in  any  grand  imposing  way. 

The  whale  never  figured  in  any  grand  imposing  way  ?  In 
one  of  the  mighty  triumphs  given  to  a  Roman  general  upon 
his  entering  the  world's  capital,  the  bones  of  a  whale,  brought 
all  the  way  from  the  Syrian  coast,  were  the  most  conspicuous 
object  in  the  cymballed  procession.* 

Grant  it,  since  you  cite  it ;  but,  say  what  you  will,  there  is 
no  real  dignity  in  whaling. 

JVo  dignity  in  whaling  ?  The  dignity  of  our  calling  the 
very  heavens  attest.  Cetus  is  a  constellation  in  the  South  !  No 
more !  Drive  down  your  hat  in  presence  of  the  Czar,  and 
take  it  off  to  Queequeg  !  No  more  !  I  know  a  man  that,  in  his 
lifetime,  has  taken  three  hundred  and  fifty  whales.  I  account 
that  man  more  honorable  than  that  great  captain  of  antiquity 
who  boasted  of  taking  as  many  walled  towns. 

And,  as  for  me,  if,  by  any  possibility,  there  be  any  as  yet 
undiscovered  prime  thing  in  me ;  if  I  shall  ever  deserve  any  real 
repute  in  that  small  but  high  hushed  world  which  I  might 
not  be  unreasonably  ambitious  of ;  if  hereafter  I  shall  do  any- 
thing that,  upon  the  whole,  a  man  might  rather  have  done 
than  to  have  left  undone ;  if,  at  my  death,  my  executors,  or 
more  properly  my  creditors,  find  any  precious  MSS.  in  my  desk, 
then  here  I  prospectively  ascribe  all  the  honor  and  the  glory 
to  whaling ;  for  a  whale-ship  was  my  Yale  College  and  my 
Harvard. 

*  See  subsequent  chapters  for  something  more  on  this  head. 


124  POSTSCRIPT 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

POSTSCRIPT. 

In  behalf  of  the  dignity  of  whaling,  I  would  fain  advance 
naught  but  substantiated  facts.  But  after  embattling  his  facts, 
an  advocate  who  should  wholly  suppress  a  not  unreasonable 
surmise,  which  might  tell  eloquently  upon  his  cause — such  an 
advocate,  would  he  not  be  blameworthy  ? 

It  is  well  known  that  at  the  coronation  of  kings  and  queens, 
even  modern  ones,  a  certain  curious  process  of  seasoning  them 
for  their  functions  is  gone  through.  There  is  a  saltcellar  of  state, 
so  called,  and  there  may  be  a  caster  of  state.  How  they  use 
the  salt,  precisely — who  knows  ?  Certain  I  am,  however,  that 
a  king's  head  is  solemnly  oiled  at  his  coronation,  even  as  a  head 
of  salad.  Can  it  be,  though,  that  they  anoint  it  with  a  view  of 
making  its  interior  run  well,  as  they  anoint  machinery  ?  Much 
might  be  ruminated  here,  concerning  the  essential  dignity  of 
this  regal  process,  because  in  common  life  we  esteem  but  meanly 
and  contemptibly  a  fellow  who  anoints  his  hair,  and  palpably 
smells  of  that  anointing.  In  truth,  a  mature  man  who  uses 
hair-oil,  unless  medicinally,  that  man  has  probably  got  a  quoggy 
spot  in  him  somewhere.  As  a  general  rule,  he  can't  amount  to 
much  in  his  totality. 

But  the  only  thing  to  be  considered  here,  is  this — what  kind 
of  oil  is  used  at  coronations  ?  Certainly  it  cannot  be  olive  oil, 
nor  macassar  oil,  nor  castor  oil,  nor  bear's  oil,  nor  train  oil,  nor 
cod-liver  oil.  What  then  can  it  possibly  be,  but  sperm  oil  in 
its  unmanufactured,  unpolluted  state,  the  sweetest  of  all  oils  ? 

Think  of  that,  ye  loyal  Britons  !  we  whalemen  supply  your 
kings  and  queens  with  coronation  stuff ! 


KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES.  125 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES. 

The  chief  mate  of  the  Pequod  was  Starbuck,  a  native  of 
Nantucket,  and  a  Quaker  by  descent.  He  was  a  long,  earnest 
man,  and  though  born  on  an  icy  coast,  seemed  well  adapted  to 
endure  hot  latitudes,  his  flesh  being  hard  as  twice-baked 
biscuit.  Transported  to  the  Indies,  his  live  blood  would  not 
spoil  like  bottled  ale.  He  must  have  been  born  in  some  time 
of  general  drought  and  famine,  or  upon  one  of  those  fast  days 
for  which  his  state  is  famous.  Only  some  thirty  arid  summers 
had  he  seen ;  those  summers  had  dried  up  all  his  physical 
superfluousness.  But  this,  his  thinness,  so  to  speak,  seemed 
no  more  the  token  of  wasting  anxieties  and  cares,  than  it 
seemed  the  indication  of  any  bodily  blight.  It  was  merely 
the  condensation  of  the  man.  He  was  by  no  means  ill-looking  ; 
quite  the  contrary.  His  pure  tight  skin  was  an  excellent  fit ; 
and  closely  Wrapped  up  in  it,  and  embalmed  with  inner  health 
and  strength,  like  a  revivified  Egyptian,  this  Starbuck  seemed  pre- 
pared to  endure  for  long  ages  to  come,  and  to  endure  always, 
as  now ;  for  be  it  Polar  snow  or  torrid  sun,  like  a  patent 
chronometer,  his  interior  vitality  was  warranted  to  do  well  in 
all  climates.  Looking  into  his  eyes,  you  seemed  to  see  there 
the  yet  lingering  images  of  those  thousand-fold  perils  he  had 
calmly  confronted  through  life.  A  staid,  steadfast  man,  whose 
life  for  the  most  part  was  a  telling  pantomime  of  action,  and  not 
a  tame  chapter  of  sounds.  Yet,  for  all  his  hardy  sobriety  and 
fortitude,  there  were  certain  qualities  in  him  which  at  times 
affected,  and  in  some  cases  seemed  well  nigh  to  overbalance  all 
the  rest.     Uncommonly  conscientious  for  a  seaman,  and  endued 


126  KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES. 

•with  a  deep  natural  reverence,  the  wild  watery  loneliness  of  his 
life  did  therefore  strongly  incline  him  to  superstition  ;  but  to 
that  sort  of  superstition,  which  in  some  organizations  seems 
rather  to  spring,  somehow,  from  intelligence  than  from  igno- 
rance. Outward  portents  and  inward  presentiments  were  his. 
And  if  at  times  these  things  bent  the  welded  iron  of  his  soul, 
much  more  did  his  far-away  domestic  memories  of  his  young 
Cape  wife  and  child,  tend  to  bend  him  still  more  from 
the  original  ruggedness  of  his  nature,  and  open  him  still  further 
to  those  latent  influences  which,  in  some  honest-hearted  men, 
restrain  the  gush  of  dare-devil  daring,  so  often  evinced  by  others 
in  the  more  perilous  vicissitudes  of  the  fishery.  "  I  will  have  no 
man  in  my  boat,"  said  Starbuck,  "  who  is  not  afraid  of  a  whale." 
By  this,  he  seemed  to  mean,  not  only  that  the  most  reliable 
and  useful  courage  was  that  which  arises  from  the  fair  estima- 
tion of  the  encountered  peril,  but  that  an  utterly  fearless  man 
is  a  far  more  dangerous  comrade  than  a  coward. 

"  Aye,  aye,''  said  Stubb,  the  second  mate,  "  Starbuck,  there, 
is  as  careful  a  man  as  you'll  find  anywhere  in  this  fishery." 
But  we  shall  ere  long  see  what  that  word  "  careful''  precisely 
means  when  used  by  a  man  like  Stbub,  or  almost  any  other 
whale  hunter. 

Starbuck  was  no  crusader  after  perils ;  in  him  courage  was 
not  a  sentiment ;  but  a  thing  simply  useful  to  him,  and  always 
at  hand  upon  all  mortally  practical  occasions.  Besides,  he 
thought,  perhaps,  that  in  this  business  of  whaling,  courage  was 
one  of  the  great  staple  outfits  of  the  ship,  like  her  beef  and  her 
bread,  and  not  to  be  foolishly  wasted.  Wherefore  he  had  no 
fancy  for  lowering  for  whales  after  sun-down  ;  nor  for  persisting 
in  fighting  a  fish  that  too  much  persisted  in  fighting  him. 
For,  thought  Starbuck,  I  am  here  in  this  critical  ocean  to  kill 
whales  for  my  living,  and  not  to  be  killed  by  them  for  theirs ; 
and  that  hundreds  of  men  had  been  so  killed  Starbuck  well 
knew.       What   doom    was   his    own  father's  ?       Where,   in 


KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES.  127 

the  bottomless  deeps,  could  lie  find  the  torn  limbs  of  his 
brother  ? 

With  memories  like  these  in  him,  and,  moreover,  given  to  a 
certain  superstitiousness,  as  has  been  said ;  the  courage  of  this 
Starbuck  which  could,  nevertheless,  still  flourish,  must  indeed 
have  been  extreme.  But  it  was  not  in  reasonable  nature  that 
a  man  so  organized,  and  with  such  terrible  experiences  and 
remembrances  as  he  had ;  it  was  not  in  nature  that  these 
things  should  fail  in  latently  engendering  an  element  in  him, 
which,  under  suitable  circumstances,  would  break  out  from  its 
confinement,  and  burn  all  his  corn-age  up.  And  brave  as  he 
might  be.  it  was  that  sort  of  bravery  chiefly,  visible  in  some 
intrepid  men,  which,  while  generally  abiding  firm  in  the  conflict 
with  seas,  or  winds,  or  whales,  or  any  of  the  ordinary  irrational 
horrors  of  the  world,  yet  cannot  withstand  those  more  terrific, 
because  more  spiritual  terrors,  which  sometimes  menace  you 
from  the  concentrating  brow  of  an  enraged  and  mighty  man. 

But  were  the  coming  narrative  to  reveal,  in  any  instance,  the 
complete  abasement  of  poor  Starbuck's  fortitude,  scarce  might 
I  have  the  heart  to  write  it ;  for  it  is  a  thing  most  sorrowful, 
nay  shocking,  to  expose  the  fall  of  valor  in  the  soul.  Men 
may  seem  detestable  as  joint  stock-companies  and  nations ; 
knaves,  fools,  and  murderers  there  may  be ;  men  may  have 
mean  and  meagre  faces  ;  but  man,  in  the  ideal,  is  so  noble  and 
so  sparkling,  such  a  grand  and  glowing  creature,  that  over  any 
ignominious  blemish  in  him  all  his  fellows  should  run  to  throw 
their  costliest  robes.  That  immaculate  manliness  we  feel  within 
ourselves,  so  far  within  us,  that  it  remains  intact  though  all  the 
outer  character  seem  gone ;  bleeds  with  keenest  anguish  at  the 
undraped  spectacle  of  a  valor-rained  man.  Nor  can  piety  itself, 
at  such  a  shameful  sight,  completely  stifle  her  upbraidings 
against  the  permitting  stars.  But  this  august  dignity  I  treat 
of,  is  not  the  dignity  of  kings  and  robes,  but  that  abounding 
dignity  which  has  no  robed  investiture.      Thou  shalt   see   it 


128  KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES. 

shining  in  the  arm  that  wields  a  pick  or  drives  a  spike ;  that 
democratic  dignity  which,  on  all  hands,  radiates  without  end 
from  God ;  Himself !  The  great  God  absolute !  The  centre 
and  circumference  of  all  democracy!  His  omnipresence,  our 
divine  equality ! 

If,  then,  to  meanest  mariners,  and  renegades  and  castaways,  I 
shall  hereafter  ascribe  high  qualities,  though  dark ;  weave  round 
them  tragic  graces  ;  if  even  the  most  mournful,  perchance  the 
most  abased,  among  them  all,  shall  at  times  lift  himself  to  the 
exalted  mounts  ;  if  I  shall  touch  that  workman's  arm  with  some 
ethereal  light ;  if  I  shall  spread  a  rainbow  over  his  disastrous 
set  of  sun  ;  then  against  all  mortal  critics  bear  me  out  in  it,  thou 
just  Spirit  of  Equality,  which  hast  spread  one  royal  mantle  of 
humanity  over  all  my  kind !  Bear  me  out  in  it,  thou  great 
democratic  God !  who  didst  not  refuse  to  the  swart  convict, 
Bunyan,  the  pale,  poetic  pearl;  Thou  who  didst  clothe  with 
doubly  hammered  leaves  of  finest  gold,  the  stumped  and  pau- 
pered  arm  of  old  Cervantes  ;  Thou  who  didst  pick  up  Andrew 
Jackson  from  the  pebbles ;  who  didst  hurl  him  upon  a  war- 
horse  ;  who  didst  thunder  him  higher  than  a  throne  !  Thou 
who,  in  all  Thy  mighty,  earthly  marchings,  ever  cullest  Thy 
selectest  champions  from  the  kingly  commons ;  bear  me  out  in 
it,  0  God ! 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

KNIGHTS  AND  SQUIRES. 

Stubb  was  the  second  mate.  He  was  a  native  of  Cape  Cod ; 
and  hence,  according  to  local  usage,  was  called  a  Cape-Cod-man. 
A  happy-go-lucky ;  neither  craven  nor  valiant ;  taking  perils 
as  they  came  with  an  indifferent  air ;  and  while  engaged  in  the 
most  imminent  crisis  of  the  chase,  toiling  away,  calm  and  col- 


KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES.  129 

lected  as  a  journeyman  joiner  engaged  for  the  year.  Good- 
humored,  easy,  and  careless,  he  presided  over  his  whale-boat  as 
if  the  most  deadly  encounter  were  but  a  dinner,  and  his  crew 
all  invited  guests.  He  was  as  particular  about  the  comfortable 
arrangement  of  his  part  of  the  boat,  as  an  old  stage-driver  is 
about  the  snugness  of  his  box.  When  close  to  the  whale,  in 
the  very  death-lock  of  the  fight,  he  handled  his  unpitying  lance 
coolly  and  off-handedly,  as  a  whistling  tinker  his  hammer.  He 
would  hum  over  his  old  rigadig  tunes  while  flank  and  flank  with 
the  most  exasperated  monster.  Long  usage  had,  for  this  Stubb, 
converted  the  jaws  of  death  into  an  easy  chair.  What  he 
thought  of  death  itself,  there  is  no  telling.  Whether  he  ever 
thought  of  it  at  all,  might  be  a  question ;  but,  if  he  ever  did 
chance  to  cast  his  mind  that  way  after  a  comfortable  dinner, 
no  doubt,  like  a  good  sailor,  he  took  it  to  be  a  sort  of  call  of 
the  watch  to  tumble  aloft,  and  bestir  themselves  there,  about 
something  which  he  would  find  out  when  he  obeyed  the  order, 
and  not  sooner. 

What,  perhaps,  with  other  things,  made  Stubb  such  an  easy- 
going, unfearing  man,  so  cheerily  trudging  off  with  the  burden 
of  fife  in  a  world  full  of  grave  peddlers,  all  bowed  to  the  ground 
with  their  packs  ;  what  helped  to  bring  about  that  almost  impious 
good-humor  of  his  ;  that  thing  must  have  been  his  pipe.  For, 
like  his  nose,  his  short,  black  little  pipe  was  one  of  the  regular 
features  of  his  face.  You  would  almost  as  soon  have  expected 
him  to  turn  out  of  his  bunk  without  his  nose  as  without  his  pipe. 
He  kept  a  whole  row  of  pipes  there  ready  loaded,  stuck  in  a 
rack,  within  easy  reach  of  his  hand ;  and,  whenever  he  turned 
in,  he  smoked  them  all  out  in  succession,  lighting  one  from  the 
other  to  the  end  of  the  chapter  ;  then  loading  them  again  to  be 
in  readiness  anew.  For,  when  Stubb  dressed,  instead  of  first 
putting  his  legs  into  his  trowsers,  he  put  his  pipe  into  his 
mouth. 

I  say  this  continual  smoking  must  have  been  one  cause,  at 
6* 


130  KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES. 

least,  of  his  peculiar  disposition ;  for  every  one  knows  that  this 
earthly  air,  whether  ashore  or  afloat,  is  terribly  infected  with  the 
nameless  miseries  of  the  numberless  mortals  who  have  died  ex- 
haling it ;  and  as  in  time  of  the  cholera,  some  people  go  about 
with  a  camphorated  handkerchief  to  their  mouths ;  so,  likewise, 
against  all  mortal  tribulations,  Stubb's  tobacco  smoke  might 
have  operated  as  a  sort  of  disinfecting  agent. 

The  third  mate  was  Flask,  a  native  of  Tisbury,  in  Martha's 
Vineyard.  A  short,  stout,  ruddy  young  fellow,  very  pugnacious 
concerning  whales,  who  somehow  seemed  to  think  that  the 
great  Leviathans  had  personally  and  hereditarily  affronted  him ; 
and  therefore  it  was  a  sort  of  point  of  honor  with  him,  to  de- 
stroy them  whenever  encountered.  So  utterly  lost  was  he  to 
all  sense  of  reverence  for  the  many  marvels  of  their  majestic 
bulk  and  mystic  ways  ;  and  so  dead  to  anything  like  an  appre- 
hension of  any  possible  danger  from  encountering  them ;  that  in 
his  poor  opinion,  the  wondrous  whale  was  but  a  species  of  mag- 
nified mouse,  or  at  least  water-rat,  requiring  only  a  little  cir- 
cumvention and  some  small  application  of  time  and  trouble  in 
order  to  kill  and  boil.  This  ignorant,  unconscious  fearlessness 
of  his  made  him  a  little  waggish  in  the  matter  of  whales ;  he 
followed  these  fish  for  the  fun  of  it ;  and  a  three  years'  voyage 
round  Cape  Horn  was  only  a  jolly  joke  that  lasted  that  length 
of  time.  As  a  carpenter's  nails  are  divided  into  wrought  nails 
and  cut  nails ;  so  mankind  may  be  similarly  divided.  Little 
Flask  was  one  of  the  wrought  ones  ;  made  to  clinch  tight  and 
last  long.  They  called  him  King-Post  on  board  of  the  Pequod ; 
because,  in  form,  he  could  be  well  likened  to  the  short,  square 
(imber  known  by  that  name  in  Arctic  whalers ;  and  which  by 
She  means  of  many  radiating  side  timbers  inserted  into  it,  serves 
.o  brace  the  ship  against  the  icy  concussions  of  those  batter- 
ing seas. 

Now  these  three  mates — Starbuck,  Stubb,  and  Flask,  were 
momentous  men.     They  it  was  who  by  universal  prescription 


KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES.  131 

commanded  three  of  the  Pequod's  boats  as  headsmen.  In  that 
grand  order  of  battle  in  which  Captain  Ahab  would  probably 
marshal  his  forces  to  descend  on  the  whales,  these  three  heads- 
men were  as  captains  of  companies.  Or,  being  armed  with 
their  long  keen  whaling  spears,  they  were  as  a  picked  trio  of 
lancers ;  even  as  the  harpooneers  were  flingers  of  javelins. 

And  since  in  this  famous  fishery,  each  mate  or  headsman, 
like  a  Gothic  Knight  of  old,  is  always  accompanied  by  his  boat- 
steerer  or  harpooneer,  who  in  certain  conjunctures  provides  him 
with  a  fresh  lance,  when  the  former  one  has  been  badly  twisted, 
or  elbowed  in  the  assault ;  and  moreover,  as  there  generally  sub- 
sists between  the  two,  a  close  intimacy  and  friendliness ;  it  is 
therefore  but  meet,  that  in  this  place  we  set  down  who  the  Pe- 
quod's harpooneers  were,  and  to  what  headsman  each  of  them 
belonged. 

First  of  all  was  Queequeg,  whom  Starbuck,  the  chief  mate, 
had  selected  for  his  squire.     But  Queequeg  is  already  known. 

Next  was  Tashtego,  an  unmixed  Indian  from  Gay  Head,  the 
most  westerly  promontory  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  where  there 
still  exists  the  last  remnant  of  a  village  of  red  men,  which  has 
long  supplied  the  neighboring  island  of  Nantucket  with  many 
of  her  most  daring  harpooneers.  In  the  fishery,  they  usually  go 
by  the  generic  name  of  Gay-Headers.  Tashtego's  long,  lean, 
sable  hair,  his  high  cheek  bones,  and  black  rounding  eyes — for 
an  Indian,  Oriental  in  their  largeness,  but  Antarctic  in  their  glit- 
tering expression — all  this  sufficiently  proclaimed  him  an  inhe- 
ritor of  the  un vitiated  blood  of  those  proud  warrior  hunters,  who, 
in  quest  of  the  great  New  England  moose,  had  scoured,  bow  in 
hand,  the  aboriginal  forests  of  the  main.  But  no  longer  snuff- 
ing in  the  trail  of  the  wild  beasts  of  the  woodland,  Tashtego 
now  hunted  in  the  wake  of  the  great  whales  of  the  sea ;  the 
unerring  harpoon  of  the  son  fitly  replacing  the  infallible  arrow 
of  the  sires.  To  look  at  the  tawny  brawn  of  his  lithe  snaky 
limbs,  you  would  almost  have  credited  the  superstitions  of  some 


132  KNIGHTS    AND    SQUIRES. 

of  the  earlier  Puritans,  and  half  believed  this  wild  Indian  to  be 
a  son  of  the  Prince  of  the  Powers  of  the  Air.  Tashtego  was 
Stubb  the  second  mate's  squire. 

Third  among  the  harpooneers  was  Daggoo,  a  gigantic,  coal- 
black  negro-savage,  with  a  lion-like  tread — an  Ahasuerus  to  be- 
hold. Suspended  from  his  ears  were  two  golden  hoops,  so  large 
that  the  sailors  called  them  ring-bolts,  and  would  talk  of  secur- 
ing the  top-sail  halyards  to  them.  In  his  youth  Daggoo  had 
voluntarily  shipped  on  board  of  a  whaler,  lying  in  a  lonely  bay 
on  his  native  coast.  And  never  having  been  anywhere  in  the 
world  but  in  Africa,  Nantucket,  and  the  pagan  harbors 
most  frequented  by  whalemen ;  and  having  now  led  for  many 
years  the  bold  life  of  the  fishery  in  the  ships  of  owners  uncom- 
monly heedful  of  what  manner  of  men  they  shipped ;  Daggoo 
retained  all  his  barbaric  virtues,  and  erect  as  a  giraffe,  moved 
about  the  decks  in  all  the  pomp  of  six  feet  five  in  his  socks. 
There  was  a  corporeal  humility  in  looking  up  at  him ;  and  a 
white  man  standing  before  him  seemed  a  white  flag  come  to  beg 
truce  of  a  fortress.  Curious  to  tell,  this  imperial  negro,  Aha- 
suerus Daggoo,  was  the  Squire  of  little  Flask,  who  looked  like  a 
chess-man  beside  him.  As  for  the  residue  of  the  Pequod's 
company,  be  it  said,  that  at  the  present  day  not  one  in  two  of 
the  many  thousand  men  before  the  mast  employed  in  the  Ame- 
rican whale  fishery,  are  Americans  born,  though  pretty  nearly  all 
the  officers  are.  Herein  it  is  the  same  with  the  American 
whale  fishery  as  with  the  American  army  and  military  and 
merchant  navies,  and  the  engineering  forces  employed  in  the 
construction  of  the  American  Canals  and  Railroads.  The 
same,  I  say,  because  in  all  these  cases  the  native  American  libe- 
rally provides  the  brains,  the  rest  of  the  world  as  generously 
supplying  the  muscles.  No  small  number  of  these  whaling 
seamen  belong  to  the  Azores,  where  the  outward  bound  Nan- 
tucket whalers  frequently  touch  to  augment  their  crews  from  the 
hardy  peasants  of  those  rocky  shores.     In  like   manner,  the 


A  H  A  B  .  133 

Greenland  whalers  sailing  out  of  Hull  or  London,  put  in  at  the 
Shetland  Islands,  to  receive  the  full  complement  of  their  crew. 
Upon  the  passage  homewards,  they  drop  them  there  again.  How 
it  is,  there  is  no  telling,  but  Islanders  seem  to  make  the  best 
whalemen.  They  were  nearly  all  Islanders  in  the  Pequod,  Isolatoes 
too,  I  call  such,  not  acknowledging  the  common  continent  of  men, 
but  each  Isolalo  living  on  a  separate  continent  of  his  own.  Yet 
now,  federated  along  one  keel,  what  a  set  these  Isolatoes  were  ! 
An  Anacharsis  Clootz  deputation  from  all  the  isles  of  the  sea,  and 
all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  accompanying  Old  Ahab  in  the  Pequod 
to  lay  the  world's  grievances  before  that  bar  from  which  not  veiy 
many  of  them  ever  come  back.  Black  Little  Pip — he  never 
did — oh,  no !  he  went  before.  Poor  Alabama  boy !  On  the 
grim  Pequod's  forecastle,  ye  shall  ere  long  see  him,  beating  his 
tambourine  ;  prelusive  of  the  eternal  time,  when  sent  for,  to 
the  gi'eat  quarter-deck  on  high,  he  was  bid  strike  in  with  angels, 
and  beat  his  tambourine  in  glory ;  called  a  coward  here,  hailed 
a  hero  there ! 


CHAPTER  XXVIH. 


For  several  days  after  leaving  Nantucket,  nothing  abore 
hatches  was  seen  of  Captain  Ahab.  The  mates  regularly 
relieved  each  other  at  the  watches,  and  for  aught  that  could  be 
seen  to  the  contrary,  they  seemed  to  be  the  only  commanders 
of  the  ship ;  only  they  sometimes  issued  from  the  cabin  with 
orders  so  sudden  and  peremptory,  that  after  all  it  was  plain  they 
but  commanded  vicariously.  Yes,  their  supreme  lord  and  dic- 
tator was  there,  though  hitherto  unseen  by  any  eyes  not  per- 
mitted to  penetrate  into  the  now  sacred  retreat  of  the  cabin. 


134  A  H  A  B . 

Every  time  I  ascended  to  the  deck  from  my  watches  below,  I 
instantly  gazed  aft  to  mark  if  any  strange  face  were  visible ;  for 
my  first  vague  disquietude  touching  the  unknown  captain,  now 
in  the  seclusion  of  the  sea,  became  almost  a  perturbation.  This 
was  strangely  heightened  at  times  by  the  ragged  Elijah's  dia- 
bolical incoherences  uninvitedly  recurring  to  me,  with  a  subtle 
energy  I  could  not  have  before  conceived  of.  But  poorly  could 
I  withstand  them,  much  as  in  other  moods  I  was  almost  ready 
to  smile  at  the  solemn  whimsicalities  of  that  outlandish  prophet 
of  the  wharves.  But  whatever  it  was  of  apprehensiveness  or 
uneasiness — to  call  it  so — which  I  felt,  yet  whenever  I  came  to 
look  about  me  in  the  ship,  it  seemed  against  all  warrantry  to 
cherish  such  emotions.  For  though  the  harpooneers,  with  the 
great  body  of  the  crew,  were  a  far  more  barbaric,  heathenish, 
and  motley  set  than  any  of  the  tame  merchant-ship  companies 
which  my  previous  experiences  had  made  me  acquainted  with, 
still  I  ascribed  this — and  rightly  ascribed  it — to  the  fierce 
uniqueness  of  the  very  nature  of  that  wild  Scandinavian  vocation 
in  which  I  had  so  abandonedly  embarked.  But  it  was  espe- 
cially the  aspect  of  the  three  chief  officers  of  the  ship,  the  mates, 
which  was  most  forcibly  calculated  to  allay  these  colorless  mis- 
givings, and  induce  confidence  and  cheerfulness  in  every  present- 
ment of  the  voyage.  Three  better,  more  likely  sea-officers  and 
men,  each  in  his  own  different  way,  could  not  readily  be  found, 
and  they  were  every  one  of  them  Americans ;  a  Nantucketer,  a 
Vineyarder,  a  Cape  man.  Now,  it  being  Christmas  when  the 
ship  shot  from  out  her  harbor,  for  a  space  we  had  biting 
Polar  weather,  though  all  the  time  running  away  from  it  to 
the  southward ;  and  by  every  degree  and  minute  of  latitude 
which  we  sailed,  gradually  leaving  that  merciless  winter,  and 
all  its  intolerable  weather  behind  us.  It  was  one  of  those  less 
lowering,  but  still  grey  and  gloomy  enough  mornings  of  the 
transition,  when  with  a  fair  wind  the  ship  was  rushing  through 
the  water  with  a  vindictive   sort  of  leaping  and  melancholy 


AHAB.  135 

rapidity,  that  as  I  mounted  to  the  deck  at  the  call  of  the  fore- 
noon watch,  so  soon  as  I  levelled  my  glance  towards  the  taffrail. 
foreboding  shivers  ran  over  me.  Reality  outran  apprehension  ; 
Captain  Ahab  stood  upon  his  quarter-deck. 

There  seemed  no  sign  of  common  bodily  illness  about  him, 
nor  of  the  recovery  from  any.  He  looked  like  a  man  cut  away 
from  the  stake,  when  the  fire  has  overrunningly  wasted  all  the 
limbs  without  consuming  them,  or  taking  away  one  particle  from 
their  compacted  aged  robustness.  His  whole  high,  broad  form, 
seemed  made  of  solid  bronze,  and  shaped  in  an  unalterable 
mould,  like  Cellini's  cast  Perseus.  Threading  its  way  out  from 
among  his  grey  hairs,  and  continuing  right  down  one  side  of  his 
tawny  scorched  face  and  neck,  till  it  disappeared  in  his  cloth- 
ing? y°u  saw  a  slender  rod-like  mark,  lividly  whitish.  It 
resembled  that  perpendicular  seam  sometimes  made  in  the 
straight,  lofty  trunk  of  a  great  tree,  when  the  upper  lightning 
tearingly  darts  down  it,  and  without  wrenching  a  single  twig, 
peels  and  grooves  out  the  bark  from  top  to  bottom,  ere  running 
off  into  the  soil,  leaving  the  tree  still  greenly  alive,  but  branded. 
Whether  that  mark  was  born  with  him,  or  whether  it  was  the 
scar  left  by  some  desperate  wound,  no  one  could  certainly  say. 
By  some  tacit  consent,  throughout  the  voyage  little  or  no  allu- 
sion was  made  to  it,  especially  by  the  mates.  But  once  Tash- 
tego's  senior,  an  old  Gay-Head  Indian  among  the  crew, 
superstitiously  asserted  that  not  till  he  was  full  forty  years  old 
did  Ahab  become  that  way  branded,  and  then  it  came  upon 
him,  not  in  the  fury  of  any  mortal  fray,  but  in  an  elemental 
strife  at  sea.  Yet,  this  wild  hint  seemed  inferentially  negatived, 
by  what  a  grey  Manxman  insinuated,  an  old  sepulchral  man, 
who,  having  never  before  sailed  out  of  Nantucket,  had  never  ere 
this  laid  eye  upon  wild  Ahab.  Nevertheless,  the  old  sea- 
traditions,  the  immemorial  credulities,  popularly  invested  this  old 
Manxman  with  preternatural  powers  of  discernment.  So  that 
no  white  sailor  seriously  contradicted  him  when  he  said  that  if 


J36  AHAB. 

ever  Captain  Ahab  should  be  tranquilly  laid  out — whicb  might 
hardly  come  to  pass,  so  he  muttered — then,  whoever  should  dc 
that  last  office  for  the  dead,  would  find  a  birth-mark  on  him 
from  crown  to  sole. 

So  powerfully  did  the  whole  grim  aspect  of  Ahab  affect  me, 
and  the  livid  brand  which  streaked  it,  that  for  the  first  few 
moments  I  hardly  noted  that  not  a  little  of  this  overbearing 
grimness  was  owing  to  the  barbaric  white  leg  upon  which  he 
partly  stood.  It  had  previously  come  to  me  that  this  ivory  leg 
had  at  sea  been  fashioned  from  the  polished  bone  of  the  sperm 
whale's  jaw.  "  Aye,  he  was  dismasted  off  Japan,"  said  the  old 
Gay-Head  Indian  once ;  "  but  like  his  dismasted  craft,  he  shipped 
another  mast  without  coming  home  for  it.  He  has  a  quiver  of 
'em." 

I  was  struck  with  the  singular  posture  he  maintained.  Upon 
each  side  of  the  Pequod's  quarter  deck,  and  pretty  close  to  the 
mizen  shrouds,  there  was  an  auger  hole,  bored  about  half  an 
inch  or  so,  into  the  plank.  His  bone  leg  steadied  in  that  hole ; 
one  arm  elevated,  and  holding  by  a  shroud ;  Captain  Ahab  stood 
erect,  looking  straight  out  beyond  the  ship's  ever-pitching  prow. 
There  was  an  infinity  of  firmest  fortitude,  a  determinate,  unsur- 
renderable  wilfulness,  in  the  fixed  and  fearless,  forward  dedica- 
tion of  that  glance.  Not  a  word  he  spoke ;  nor  did  his  officers 
say  aught  to  him ;  though  by  all  their  minutest  gestures  and 
expressions,  they  plainly  showed  the  uneasy,  if  not  painful,  con- 
sciousness of  being  under  a  troubled  master-eye.  And  not 
only  that,  but  moody  stricken  Ahab  stood  before  them  with  a 
crucifixion  in  his  face ;  in  all  the  nameless  regal  overbearing 
dignity  of  some  mighty  woe. 

Ere  long,  from  his  first  visit  in  the  air,  he  withdrew  into  his 
cabin.  But  after  that  morning,  he  was  every  day  visible  to  the 
crew ;  cither  standing  in  his  pivot-hole,  or  seated  upon  an  ivory 
stool  he  had  ;  or  heavily  walking  the  deck.  As  the  sky  grew 
less  gloomy ;  indeed,  began  to  grow  a  little  genial,  he  became 


ENTER    AHAB.  137 


still  less  and  less  a  recluse ;  as  if,  when  the  ship  had  sailed  from 
home,  nothing  but  the  dead  wintry  bleakness  of  the  sea  had 
then  kept  him  so  secluded.  And,  by  and  by,  it  came  to  pass, 
that  he  was  almost  continually  in  the  air ;  but,  as  yet,  for  all 
that  he  said,  or  perceptibly  did,  on  the  at  last  sunny  deck, 
he  seemed  as  unnecessary  there  as  another  mast.  But  the 
Pequod  was  only  making  a  passage  now ;  not  regularly  cruis- 
ing ;  nearly  all  whaling  preparatives  needing  supervision  the 
mates  were  fully  competent  to,  so  that  there  was  little  or  nothing, 
out  of  himself,  to  employ  or  excite  Ahab,  now;  and  thus  chase 
away,  for  that  one  interval,  the  clouds  that  layer  upon  layer 
were  piled  upon  his  brow,  as  ever  all  clouds  choose  the  loftiest 
peaks  to  pile  themselves  upon. 

Nevertheless,  ere  long,  the  warm,  warbling  persuasiveness  of 
the  pleasant,  holiday  weather  we  came  to,  seemed  gradually  to 
charm  him  from  his  mood.  For,  as  when  the  red-cheeked, 
dancing  girls,  April  and  May,  trip  home  to  the  wintry,  misan- 
thropic woods  ;  even  the  barest,  ruggedest,  most  thunder-cloven 
old  oak  will  at  least  send  forth  some  few  green  sprouts,  to  wel- 
come such  glad-hearted  visitants ;  so  Ahab  did,  in  the  end,  a  little 
respond  to  the  playful  allurings  of  that  girlish  air.  More  than 
once  did  he  put  forth  the  faint  blossom  of  a  look,  which,  in 
any  other  man,  would  have  soon  flowered  out  in  a  smile. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

ENTER   AHAB  j   TO    HIM,    STUBB. 

Some  days  elapsed,  and  ice  and  icebergs  all  astern,  the 
Pequod  now  went  rolling  through  the  bright  Quito  spring, 
which,  at  sea,  almost  perpetually  reigns  on  the  threshold  of  the 
eternal  August  of  the  Tropic.  The  warmly  cool,  clear,  ringing, 
perfumed,  overflowing,  redundant  days,  were  as  crystal  goblets 


138  ENTER    AHAB. 

of  Persian  sherbet,  heaped  up — flaked  up,  with  rose-water 
snow.  The  starred  and  stately  nights  seemed  haughty  dames  in 
jewelled  velvets,  nursing  at  home  in  lonely  pride,  the  memory 
of  their  absent  conquering  Earls,  the  golden  helmeted  suns ! 
For  sleeping  man,  'twas  hard  to  choose  between  such  winsome 
days  and  such  seducing  nights.  But  all  the  witcheries  of  that 
unwaning  weather  did  not  merely  lend  new  spells  and  poten- 
cies to  the  outward  world.  Inward  they  turned  upon  the  soul, 
especially  when  the  still  mild  hours  of  eve  came  on;  then, 
memory  shot  her  crystals  as  the  clear  ice  most  forms  of  noise- 
less twilights.  And  all  these  subtle  agencies,  more  and  more 
they  wrought  on  Ahab's  texture. 

Old  age  is  always  wakeful ;  as  if,  the  longer  linked  with  life,  the 
less  man  has  to  do  with  aught  that  looks  like  death.  Among 
sea-commanders,  the  old  greybeards  will  oftenest  leave  their  berths 
to  visit  the  night-cloaked  deck.  It  was  so  with  Ahab ;  only 
that  now,  of  late,  he  seemed  so  much  to  live  in  the  open  air, 
that  truly  speaking,  his  visits  were  more  to  the  cabin,  than  from 
the  cabin  to  the  planks.  "  It  feels  like  going  down  into  one's 
tomb," — he  would  mutter  to  himself, — "  for  an  old  captain  like 
me  to  be  descending  this  narrow  scuttle,  to  go  to  my  grave-dug 
berth." 

So,  almost  every  twenty-four  hours,  when  the  watches  of  the 
night  were  set,  and  the  band  on  deck  sentinelled  the  slumbers 
of  the  band  below ;  and  when  if  a  rope  was  to  be  hauled  upon 
the  forecastle,  the  sailors  flung  it  not  rudely  down,  as  by  day, 
but  with  some  cautiousness  dropt  it  to  its  place,  for  fear  of  dis- 
turbing their  slumbering  shipmates ;  when  this  sort  of  steady 
quietude  would  begin  to  prevail,  habitually,  the  silent  steersman 
would  watch  the  cabin-scuttle ;  and  ere  long  the  old  man  would 
emerge,  griping  at  the  iron  banister,  to  help  his  crippled  way. 
Some  considerating  touch  of  humanity  was  in  him ;  for  at  times 
like  these,  he  usually  abstained  from  patrolling  the  quarter- 
deck ;  because  to  his  wearied  mates,  seeking  repose  within  six 


ENTER    AHAB.  139 

inches  of  his  ivory  heel,  such  would  have  been  the  reverberating"' 
crack  and  din  of  that  bony  step,  that  their  dreams  would  have 
been  of  the  crunching  teeth  of  sharks.  But  once,  the  mood  was 
on  him  too  deep  for  common  regardings  ;  and  as  with  heavy, 
lumber-like  pace  he  was  measuring  the  ship  from  taffrail  to 
mainmast,  Stubb,  the  odd  second  mate,  came  up  from  below, 
and  with  a  certain  unassured,  deprecating  humorousness,  hinted 
that  if  Captain  Ahab  was  pleased  to  walk  the  planks,  then,  no 
one  could  say  nay  ;  but  there  might  be  some  way  of  muffling 
the  noise  ;.  hinting  something  indistinctly  and  hesitatingly  about 
a  globe  of  tow,  and  the  insertion  into  it,  of  the  ivory  heel.  Ah ! 
Stubb,  thou  did'st  not  know  Ahab  then. 

"  Am  I  a  cannon-ball,  Stubb,"  said  Ahab,  "  that  thou 
wouldst  wad  me  that  fashion  ?  But  go  thy  ways ;  I  had  forgot. 
Below  to  thy  nightly  grave ;  where  such  as  ye  sleep  between 
shrouds,  to  use  ye  to  the  filling  one  at  last. — Down,  dog,  and 
kennel!" 

Starting  at  the  unforeseen  concluding  exclamation  of  the  so 
suddenly  scornful  old  man,  Stubb  was  speechless  a  moment ; 
then  said  excitedly,  "  I  am  not  used  to  be  spoken  to  that  way,  sir ; 
I  do  but  less  than  half  like  it,  sir." 

"  Avast !"  gritted  Ahab  between  his  set  teeth,  and  violently 
moving  away,  as  if  to  avoid  some  passionate  temptation. 

"  No,  sir ;  not  yet,"  said  Stubb,  emboldened,  "  I  will  not  tamely 
be  called  a  dog,  sir." 

"  Then  be  called  ten  times  a  donkey,  and  a  mule,  and  an  ass, 
and  begone,  or  I'll  clear  the  world  of  thee !" 

As  he  said  this,  Ahab  advanced  upon  him  with  such  over- 
bearing terrors  in  his  aspect,  that  Stubb  involuntarily  retreated. 

"  I  was  never  served  so  before  without  giving  a  hard  blow  for 
it,"  muttered  Stubb,  as  he  found  himself  descending  the  cabin- 
scuttle.  "It's  very  queer.  Stop,  Stubb;  somehow,  now,  I 
don't  well  know  whether  to  go  back  and  strike  him,  or — what's 
that  ? — down  here  on  my  knees  and  pray  for  him  ?     Yes,  that 


140  ENTER    AHAB 


was  the  thought  coming  up  in  me ;  but  it  would  be  the  first 
time  I  ever  did  pray.  It's  queer  ;  very  queer ;  and  he's  queer 
too ;  aye,  take  him  fore  and  aft,  he's  about  the  queerest  old 
man  Stubb  ever  sailed  with.  How  he  flashed  at  me  ! — his  eyes 
like  powder-pans !  is  he  mad  ?  Anyway  there's  something  on 
his  mind,  as  sure  as  there  must  be  something  on  a  deck  when 
it  cracks.  He  aint  in  his  bed  now,  either,  more  than  three 
hours  out  of  the  twenty-four  ;  and  he  don't  sleep  then.  Didn't 
that  Dough-Boy,  the  steward,  tell  me  that  of  a  morning  he 
always  finds  the  old  man's  hammock  clothes  all  rumpled  and 
tumbled,  and  the  sheets  down  at  the  foot,  and  the  coverlid 
almost  tied  into  knots,  and  the  pillow  a  sort  of  frightful  hot,  as 
though  a  baked  brick  had  been  on  it  ?  A  hot  old  man !  I 
guess  he's  got  what  some  folks  ashore  call  a  conscience  ;  it's  a 
kind  of  Tic-Dolly-row  they  say — worse  nor  a  toothache.  Well, 
well ;  I  don't  know  what  it  is,  but  the  Lord  keep  me  from 
catching  it.  He's  full  of  riddles  ;  I  wonder  what  he  goes  into 
the  after  hold  for,  every  night,  as  Dough-Boy  tells  me  he  sus- 
pects ;  what's  that  for,  I  should  like  to  know  ?  Who's  made  ap- 
pointments with  him  in  the  hold  ?  Ain't  that  queer,  now  ?  But 
there's  no  telling,  it's  the  old  game — Here  goes  for  a  snooze. 
Damn  me,  it's  worth  a  fellow's  while  to  be  born  into  the  world, 
if  only  to  fall  right  asleep.  And  now  that  I  think  of  it,  that's 
about  the  first  thing  babies  do,  and  that's  a  sort  of  queer,  too. 
Damn  me,  but  all  things  are  queer,  come  to  think  of  'em.  But 
that's  against  my  principles.  Think  not,  is  my  eleventh  com- 
mandment ;  and  sleep  when  you  can,  is  my  twelfth — So  here 
goes  again.  But  how's  that  ?  didn't  he  call  me  a  dog  ?  blazes  ! 
he  called  me  ten  times  a  donkey,  and  piled  a  lot  of  jackasses  on 
top  of  that !  He  might  as  well  have  kicked  me,  and  done  with 
it.  Maybe  he  did  kick  me,  and  I  didn't  observe  it,  1  was  so 
taken  all  aback  with  his  brow,  somehow.  It  flashed  like  a 
bleached  bone.  What  the  devil's  the  matter  with  me  ?  I  don't 
stand  right  on  my  legs.     Coining  afoul  of  that  old  man  has  a 


THE    PIPE.  141 

sort  of  turned  me  wrong  side  out.  By  the  Lord,  I  must  have 
been  dreaming,  though — How  ?  how  ?  how  ? — but  the  only 
way's  to  stash  it ;  so  here  goes  to  hammock  again  ;  and  in  the 
morning,  I'll  see  how  this  plaguey  juggling  thinks  over  by  day- 
light." 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE    PIPE. 

When  Stubb  had  departed,  Ahab  stood  for  a  while  leaning 
over  the  bulwarks  ;  and  then,  as  had  been  usual  with  him  of 
late,  calling  a  sailor  of  the  watch,  he  sent  him  below  for 
his  ivory  stool,  and  also  his  pipe.  Lighting  the  pipe  at  the 
binnacle  lamp  and  planting  the  stool  on  the  weather  side  of  the 
deck,  he  sat  and  smoked. 

In  old  Norse  times,  the  thrones  of  the  sea-loving  Danish  kings 
were  fabricated,  saith  tradition,  of  the  tusks  of  the  narwhale. 
How  could  one  look  at  Ahab  then,  seated  on  that  tripod 
of  bones,  without  bethinking  him  of  the  royalty  it  symbolized  ? 
For  a  Khan  of  the  plank,  and  a  king  of  the  sea,  and  a  great; 
lord  of  Leviathans  was  Ahab. 

Some  moments  passed,  during  which  the  thick  vapor  came  from;, 
his  mouth  in  quick  and  constant  puffs,  which  blew  back  again  into 
his  face.  "  How  now,"  he  soliloquized  at  last,  withdrawing  the. 
tube,  "  this  smoking  no  longer  soothes.  Oh,  my  pipe !  hard 
must  it  go  with  me  if  thy  charm  be  gone  !  Here  have  I  been 
unconsciously  toiling,  not  pleasuring, — aye,  and  ignorantly 
smoking  to  windward  all  the  while ;  to  windward,  and  with 
such  nervous  whiffs,  as  if,  like  the  dying  whale,  my  final  jets 
were  the  strongest-  and  fullest  of  trouble.  What  business  have 
I  with  this  pipe  ?  This  thing  that  is  meant  for  sereneness,  to 
send   up   mild  white  vapors   among   mild  white    hail's,   not 


142  QUEEN    MAB. 


among    torn    iron-grey    locks    like    mine.      I'll    smoke    no 
more — " 

He  tossed  the  still  lighted  pipe  into  the  sea.  The  fire  hissed 
in  the  waves ;  the  same  instant  the  ship  shot  by  the  bubble  the 
sinking  pipe  made.     With  slouched  hat,  Ahab  lurchingly  paced 


the  planks. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

QUEEN   MAB. 

Next  morning  Stubb  accosted  Flask. 

"  Such  a  queer  dream,  King-Post,  I  never  had.  You  know 
the  old  man's  ivory  leg,  well  I  dreamed  he  kicked  me  with  it ; 
and  when  I  tried  to  kick  back,  upon  my  soul,  my  little  man,  I 
kicked  my  leg  right  off!  And  then,  presto!  Ahab  seemed  a 
pyramid,  and  I,  like  a  blazing  fool,  kept  kicking  at  it.  But  what 
was  still  more  curious,  Flask — *you  know  how  curious  all  dreams 
are — through  all  this  rage  that  I  was  in,  I  somehow  seemed  to 
be  thinking  to  myself,  that  after  all,  it  was  not  much  of  an  in- 
sult, that  kick  from  Ahab.  'Why,'  thinks  I,  'what's  the  row? 
It's  not  a  real  leg,  only  a  false  leg.'  And  there's  a  mighty  dif- 
ference between  a  living  thump  and  a  dead  thump.  That's 
what  makes  a  blow  from  the  hand,  Flask,  fifty  times  more  savage 
to  bear  than  a  blow  from  a  cane.  The  living  member — that 
makes  the  living  insult,  my  little  man.  And  thinks  I  to  myself 
all  the  while,  mind,  while  I  was  stubbing  my  silly  toes  against 
that  cursed  pyramid — so  confoundedly  contradictory  was  it  all, 
all  the  while,  I  say,  I  was  thinking  to  myself,  '  what's  his  leg 
now,  but  a  cane — a  whalebone  cane.  Yes,'  thinks  I,  'it  was 
only  a  playful  cudgelling — in  fact,  only  a  whaleboning  that  he 
gave  me — not  a  base  kick.  Besides,'  thinks  I,  '  look  at  it  once ; 
why,  the  end  of  it — the  foot  part — what  a  small  sort  of  end  it 


QUEEN    MAB.  143 


is  ;  whereas,  if  a  broad  footed  farmer  kicked  me,  there's  a  devil- 
ish broad  insult.  But  this  .insult  is  whittled  down  to  a  point 
only.'  But  now  comes  the  greatest  joke  of  the  dream,  Flask. 
While  I  was  battering  away  at  the  pyramid,  a  sort  of  badger- 
haired  old  merman,  with  a  hump  on  his  back,  takes  me  by  the 
shoulders,  and  slews  me  round.  '  What  are  you  'bout  ?'  says 
he.  Slid!  man,  but  I  was  frightened.  Such  a  phiz!  But, 
somehow,  next  moment  I  was  over  the  flight.  '  What  am  I 
about  ?'  says  I  at  last.  '  And  what  business  is  that  of  yours,  I 
should  like  to  know,  Mr.  Humpback?  Do  you  want  a  kick?' 
By  the  lord,  Flask,  I  had  no  sooner  said  that,  than  he  turned 
round  his  stern  to  me,  bent  over,  and  dragging  up  a  lot  of  sea- 
weed he  had  for  a  clout — what  do  you  think,  I  saw  ? — why 
thunder  alive,  man,  his  stern  was  stuck  full  of  marlinspikes,  with 
the  points  out.  Says  I,  on  second  thoughts,  '  I  guess  I  won't 
kick  you,  old  fellow.'  '  Wise  Stubb,'  said  he, '  wise  Stubb  ;'  and 
kept  muttering  it  all  the  time,  a  sort  of  eating  of  his  own  gums 
like  a  chimney  hag.  Seeing  he  wasn't  going  to  stop  saying 
over  his  '  wise  Stubb,  wise  Stubb,'  I  thought  I  might  as  well  fall 
to  kicking  the  pyramid  again.  But  I  had  only  just  lifted  my 
foot  for  it,  when  he  roared  out,  '  Stop  that  kicking  !'  '  Halloa, 
says  I,  '  what's  the  matter  now,  old  fellow  ?'  '  Look  ye  here,' 
says  he ;  '  let's  argue  the  insult.  Captain  Ahab  kicked  ye, 
didn't  he  ?'  '  Yes,  he  did,'  says  I — '  right  here  it  was.'  '  Very 
good,'  says  he — '  he  used  his  ivory  leg,  didn't  he  ?'  '  Yes,  he 
did,'  says  I.  '  Well  then,'  says  he,  \  wise  Stubb,  what  have  you 
to  complain  of  ?  Didn't  he  kick  with  right  good  will  ?  it  wasn't 
a  common  piteh  pine  leg  he  kicked  with,  was  it?  No,  you  were 
kicked  by  a  great  man,  and  with  a  beautiful  ivory  leg,  Stubb. 
It's  an  honor ;  I  consider  it  an  honor.  Listen,  wise  Stubb.  In 
old  England  the  greatest  lords  think  it  great  glory  to  be  slapped 
by  a  queen,  and  made  garter-knights  of;  but,  be  your  boast, 
Stubb,  that  ye  were  kicked  by  old  Ahab,  and  made  a  wise  man 
of.     Remember  what  I  say;  be  kicked  by  him;  account  his 


144  CETOLOGY. 


kicks  honors  ;  and  on  no  account  kick  back  ;  for  you  can't  help 
yourself,  wise  Stubb.  Don't  you  see  that  pyramid  V  With 
that,  he  all  of  a  sudden  seemed  somehow,  in  some  queer  fashion, 
to  swim  off  into  the  air.  I  snored ;  rolled  over ;  and  there  I 
was  in  my  hammock !  Now,  what  do  you  think  of  that  dream, 
Flask  ?" 

"  I  don't  know ;  it  seems  a  sort  of  foolish  to  me,  tho'." 
"  May  be  ;  may  be.  But  it's  made  a  wise  man  of  me,  Flask. 
D'ye  see  Ahab  standing  there,  sideways  looking  over  the  stern  ? 
"Well,  the  best  thing  you  can  do,  Flask,  is  to  let  that  old  man 
alone ;  never  speak  to  him,  whatever  he  says.  Halloa  !  what's 
that  he  shouts  ?     Hark !" 

"  Mast-head,  there  !  Look  sharp,  all  of  ye !  There  are 
whales  hereabouts !  If  ye  see  a  white  one,  split  your  lungs  for 
him!" 

"  What  d'ye  think  of  that  now,  Flask  ?  ain't  there  a  small 
drop  of  something  queer  about  that,  eh  ?  A  white  whale — did 
ye  mark  that,  man  ?  Look  ye — there's  something  special  in  the 
wind.  Stand  by  for  it,  Flask.  Ahab  has  that  that's  bloody  on 
his  mind.     But,  mum ;  he  comes  this  way." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

_:    CETOLOGY. 

Already  we  are  boldly  launched  upon  the  deep  ;  but  soon 
we  shall  be  lost  in  its  unshored,  harborless  immensities.  Ere 
that  come  to  pass;  ere  the  Pequod's  weedy  hull  rolls  side 
by  side  with  the  barnacled  hulls  of  the  leviathan ;  at  the  outset 
it  is  but  well  to  attend  to  a  matter  almost  indispensable  to 
a  thorough  appreciative  understanding  of  the  more  special 
leviathanic  revelations  and  allusions  of  all  sorts  which  are  to 
follow. 


C  E  T  O  L  0  G  Y .  145 


It  is  some  systematized  exhibition  of  the  whale  in  his  broad 
genera,  that  I  would  now  fain  put  before  you.  Yet  is  it  no  easy 
task.  The  classification  of  the  constituents  of  a  chaos,  nothing 
less  is  here  essayed.  Listen  to  what  the  best  and  latest  author- 
ities have  laid  down. 

"  No  branch  of  Zoology  is  so  much  involved  as  that  which  is 
entitled  Cetology,"  says  Captain  Scoresby,  A.  D.  1820. 

u  It  is  not  my  intention,  were  it  in  my  power,  to  enter  into 
the  inquiry  as  to  the  true  method  of  dividing  the  cetacea  into 
groups  and  families.  *  *  *  Utter  confusion  exists  among 
the  historians  of  this  animal"  (sperm  whale),  says  Surgeon 
Beale,  A.  D.  1839. 

"  Unfitness  to  pursue  our  research  in  the  unfathomable 
waters."  "  Impenetrable  veil  covering  our  knowledge  of  the 
cetacea."  "  A  field  strewn  with  thorns."  "  All  these  incom- 
plete indications  but  serve  to  torture  us  naturalists." 

Thus  speak  of  the  whale,  the  great  Cuvier,  and  John  Hunter, 
and  Lesson,  those  lights  of  zoology  and  anatomy.  Never- 
theless, though  of  real  knowledge  there  be  little,  yet  of  books 
there  are  a  plenty  ;  and  so  in  some  small  degree,  with  cetology, 
or  the  science  of  whales.  Many  are  the  men,  small  and  great, 
old  and  new,  landsmen  and  seamen,  who  have  at  large  or  in 
little,  written  of  the  whale.  Run  over  a  few  : — The  Authors  of 
the  Bible  ;  Aristotle ;  Pliny  ;  Aldrovandi ;  Sir  Thomas  Browne  ; 
Gesner ;  Ray ;  Linnaeus ;  Rondeletius  ;  Willoughby  ;  Green  ; 
Artedi ;  Sibbald  ;  Brisson  ;  Marten ;  Lacepede  ;  Bonneterre  ; 
Desmarest ;  Baron  Cuvier ;  Frederick  Cuvier  ;  John  Hunter  ; 
Owen  ;  Scoresby ;  Beale ;  Bennett ;  J.  Ross  Browne  ;  the  Au- 
thor of  Miriam  Coffin ;  01  instead  ;  and  the  Rev.  T.  Cheever. 
But  to  what  ultimate  generalizing  purpose  all  these  have  writ- 
ten, the  above  cited  extracts  will  show. 

Of  the  names  in  this  list  of  whale  authors,  only  those  follow- 
ing Owen  ever  saw  living  whales  ;  and  but  one  of  them  was  a 
real  professional  harpooneer  and  whaleman.      I  mean  Captain 

1 


146  CETOLOGY. 


Scoresby.  On  the  separate  subject  of  the  Greenland  or  right- 
whale,  be  is  tbe  best  existing  authority.  But  Scoresby  knew 
nothing  and  says  nothing  of  the  great  sperm  whale,  compared 
with  which  the  Greenland  whale  is  almost  unworthy  mention- 
ing. And  here  be  it  said,  that  the  Greenland  whale  is 
an  usurper  upon  the  throne  of  the  seas.  He  is  not  even  by  any 
means  the  largest  of  the  whales.  Yet,  owing  to  the  long 
priority  of  his  claims,  and  the  profound  ignorance  which,  till 
some  seventy  years  back,  invested  the  then  fabulous  or  utterly 
unknown  sperm-whale,  and  which  ignorance  to  this  present  day 
still  reigns  in  all  but  some  few  scientific  retreats  and  whale-ports  ; 
this  usurpation  has  been  every  wa}7  complete.  Reference 
to  nearly  all  the  leviathanic  allusions  in  the  great  poets  of  past 
days,  will  satisfy  you  that  the  Greenland  whale,  without  one 
rival,  was  to  them  the  monarch  of  the  seas.  But  the  time  has 
at  last  come  for  a  new  proclamation.  This  is  Charing  Cross  ; 
hear  ye  !  good  people  all, — the  Greenland  whale  is  deposed, — 
the  great  sperm  whale  now  reigneth  ! 

There  are  only  two  books  in  being  which  at  all  pretend  to 
put  the  living  sperm  whale  before  you,  and  at  the  same  time, 
in  the  remotest  degree  succeed  in  the  attempt.  Those  books 
are  Beale's  and  Bennett's ;  both  in  their  time  surgeons  to 
English  South-Sea  whale-ships,  and  both  exact  and  reliable  men. 
The  original  matter  touching  the  sperm  whale  to  be  found  in 
their  volumes  is  necessarily  small ;  but  so  far  as  it  goes,  it  is  of 
excellent  quality,  though  mostly  confined  to  scientific  des- 
cription. As  yet,  however,  the  sperm  whale,  scientific  or 
poetic,  lives  not  complete  in  any  literature.  Far  above  all 
other  hunted  whales,  his  is  an  unwritten  life. 

Now  the  various  species  of  whales  need  some  sort  of  popular 
comprehensive  classification,  if  only  an  easy  outline  one  for 
the  present,  hereafter  to  be  filled  in  all  its  departments  by  sub- 
sequent laborers.  As  no  better  man  advances  to  take  this 
matter  in  hand,  I  hereupon  offer  my  own  poor  endeavors.      I 


CETOLOGY.  147 


promise  nothing  complete  ;  because  any  human  thing  supposed 
to  be  complete,  must  for  that  very  reason  infallibly  be  faulty. 
I  shall  not  pretend  to  a  minute  anatomical  description  of  the 
various  species,  or — in  this  place  at  least — to  much  of  any 
description.  My  object  here  is  simply  to  project  the  draught  of 
a  system  atization  of  cetology.  I  am  the  architect,  not  the  builder. 

But  it  is  a  ponderous  task  ;  no  ordinary  letter-sorter  in  the 
Post-office  is  equal  to  it.  To  grope  down  into  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  after  them ;  to  have  one's  hands  among  the  unspeakable 
foundations,  ribs,  and  very  pelvis  of  the  world  ;  this  is  a  fearful 
thing.  What  am  I  that  I  should  essay  to  hook  the  nose  of  this 
leviathan  !  The  awful  tauntings  in  Job  might  well  appal  me. 
"  Will  he  (the  leviathan)  make  a  covenant  with  thee  ?  Behold 
the  hope  of  him  is  vain  !"  But  I  have  swam  through  libraries 
and  sailed  through  oceans  ;  I  have  had  to  do  with  whales  with 
these  visible  hands ;  I  am  in  earnest ;  and  I  will  try.  There  are 
some  preliminaries  to  settle. 

First :  The  uncertain,  unsettled  condition  of  this  science  of  Ce- 
tology is  in  the  very  vestibule  attested  by  the  fact,  that  in  some 
quarters  it  still  remains  a  moot  point  whether  a  whale  be  a 
fish.  In  his  System  of  Nature,  A.  D.  1776,  Linnaeus  declares, 
"  I  hereby  separate  the  whales  from  the  fish."  But  of  my  own 
knowledge,  I  know  that  down  to  the  year  1850,  sharks  and 
shad,  alewives  and  herring,  against  Linnaaus's  express  edict,  were 
still  found  dividing  the  possession  of  the  same  seas  with  the 
Leviathan. 

The  grounds  upon  which  Linnaeus  would  fain  have  banished 
the  whales  from  the  waters,  he  states  as  follows :  "  On  account 
of  their  warm  bilocular  heart,  their  lungs,  their  movable  eyelids, 
their  hollow  ears,  penemintrantem  feminam  mammis  lactantem," 
and  finally,  "ex  lege  naturae  jure  meritoque."  I  submitted  all 
this  to  my  friends  Simeon  Macey  and  Charley  Coffin,  of 
Nantucket,  both  messmates  of  mine  in  a  certain  voyage,  and 
they  united  in  the  opinion  that  the  reasons  set  forth  were 


148  CETOLOGY, 


altogether  insufficient.  Charley  profanely  hinted  they  were 
humbug. 

Be  it  known  that,  waiving  all  argument,  I  take  the  good  old 
fashioned  ground  that  the  whale  is  a  fish,  and  call  upon  holy 
Jonah  to  back  me.  This  fundamental  thing  settled,  the  next 
point  is,  in  what  internal  respect  does  the  Avhale  differ  from 
other  fish.  Above,  Linnaeus  has  given  you  those  items.  But  in 
brief,  they  are  these :  lungs  and  warm  blood ;  whereas,  all 
other  fish  are  lungless  and  cold  blooded. 

Next :  how  shall  we  define  the  whale,  by  his  obvious  ex- 
ternals, so  as  conspicuously  to  label  him  for  all  time  to  come  ? 
To  be  short,  then,  a  whale  is  a  spouting  fish  with  a  horizontal 
tail.  There  you  have  him.  However  contracted,  that  defini- 
tion is  the  result  of  expanded  meditation.  A  walrus  spouts 
much  like  a  whale,  but  the  walrus  is  not  a  fish,  because  he  is 
amphibious.  But  the  last  term  of  the  definition  is  still  more 
cogent,  as  coupled  with  the  first.  Almost  any  one  must  have 
noticed  that  all  the  fish  familiar  to  landsmen  have  not  a  flat, 
but  a  vertical,  or  up-and-down  tail.  Whereas,  among  spouting 
fish  the  tail,  though  it  may  be  similarly  shaped,  invariably 
assumes  a  horizontal  position. 

By  the  above  definition  of  what  a  whale  is,  I  do  by  no  means 
exclude  from  the  leviathanic  brotherhood  any  sea  creature 
hitherto  identified  with  the  whale  by  the  best  informed 
Nantucketers ;  nor,  on  the  other  hand,  link  with  it  any  fish 
hitherto  authoritatively  regarded  as  alien*  Hence,  all  the 
smaller,  spouting,  and  horizontal  tailed  fish  must  be  included  in 

*  I  am  aware  that  down  to  the  present  time,  the  fish  styled  Lamatins 
and  Dugongs  (Pig-fish  and  Sow-fish  of  the  Coffins  of  Nantucket)  are 
included  by  many  naturalists  among  the  whales.  But  as  these  pig-fish 
are  a  nosy,  contemptible  set,  mostly  lurking  in  the  mouths  of  rivers,  and 
feeding  on  wet  hay,  and  especially  as  they  do  not  spout,  I  deny  their 
credentials  as  whales  ;  and  have  presented  them  with  their  passports  to 
quit  the  Kingdom  of  Cetology. 


CETOLOGY.  149 


this  ground-plan  of   Cetology.     Now,   then,    come  the  grand 
divisions  of  the  entire  whale  host. 

First:  According  to  magnitude  I  divide  the  whales  into 
three  primary  BOOKS  (subdivisible  into  Chapters),  and 
these  shall  comprehend  them  all,  both  small  and  large. 

I.  The  Folio  Whale  ;  II.  the  Octavo  Whale  ;  III.  the 
Duodecimo  Whale. 

As  the  type  of  the  Folio  I  present  the  Sperm  Whale  ;  of 
the  Octavo,  the  Grampus  ;  of  the  Duodecimo,  the  Porpoise. 

FOLIOS.  Among  these  I  here  include  the  following  chap- 
ters : — I.  The  Sperm  Whale ;  II.  the  Bight  Whale ;  III.  the 
Fin  Back  Whale ;  IV.  the  Hump-bached  Wliale ;  V.  the 
Bazor  Back  Whale  ;  VI.    the  Sulphur  Bottom  Whale. 

BOOK  I.  (Folio),  Chapter  I.  (Sperm  Whale).— This  whale, 
among  the  English  of  old  vaguely  known  as  the  Trumpa 
whale,  and  the  Physeter  whale,  and  the  Anvil  Headed  whale,  is 
the  present  Cachalot  of  the  French,  and  the  Pottsfich  of  the 
Germans,  and  the  Macrocephalus  of  the  Long  Words.  He  is, 
without  doubt,  the  largest  inhabitant  of  the  globe ;  the  most 
formidable  of  all  whales  to  encounter;  the  most  majestic  in 
aspect ;  and  lastly,  by  far  the  most  valuable  in  commerce ;  he 
being  the  only  creature  from  which  that  valuable  substance, 
spermaceti,  is  obtained.  All  his  peculiarities  will,  in  many 
other  places,  be  enlarged  upon.  It  is  chiefly  with  his  name 
that  I  now  have  to  do.  Philologically  considered,  it  is  absurd. 
Some  centuries  ago,  when  the  Sperm  whale  was  almost  wholly 
unknown  in  his  own  proper  individuality,  and  when  his  oil  was 
only  accidentally  obtained  from  the  stranded  fish ;  in  those 
days  spermaceti,  it  would  seem,  was  popularly  supposed  to  be 
derived  from  a  creature  identical  with  the  one  then  known  in 
England  as  the  Greenland  or  Right  Wliale.  It  was  the  idea 
also,  that  this  same  spermaceti  was  that  quickening  humor  of 
the  Greenland  Whale  which  the  first  syllable  of  the  word 
literally   expresses.     In   those  times,  also,  spermaceti  was  ex- 


150  CETOLOGY. 


ceedingly  scarce,  not  being  used  for  light,  but  only  as  an  oint- 
ment and  medicament.  It  was  only  to  be  had  from  the 
druggists  as  you  nowadays  buy  an  ounce  of  rhubarb.  When, 
as  I  opine,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  true  nature  of  spermaceti 
became  known,  its  original  name  was  still  retained  by  the 
dealers  ;  no  doubt  to  enhance  its  value  by  a  notion  so  strangely 
significant  of  its  scarcity.  And  so  the  appellation  must  at  last 
have  come  to  be  bestowed  upon  the  whale  from  which  this 
spermaceti  was  really  derived. 

BOOK  I.  (Folio),  Chapter  II.  (Right  Whale).— In  one  re- 
spect this  is  the  most  venerable  of  the  leviathans,  being  the  one 
first  regularly  hunted  by  man.  It  yields  the  article  commonly 
known  as  whalebone  or  baleen  ;  and  the  oil  specially  known  as 
"  whale  oil,"  an  inferior  article  in  commerce.  Among  the  fish- 
ermen, he  is  indiscriminately  designated  by  all  the  following 
titles  :  The  Whale  ;  the  Greenland  Whale ;  the  Black  Whale  ; 
the  Great  Whale ;  the  True  Whale  ;  the  Right  Whale.  There 
is  a  deal  of  obscurity  concerning  the  identity  of  the  species  thus 
multitudinously  baptized.  What  then  is  the  whale,  which  I 
include  in  the  second  species  of  my  Folios  ?  It  is  the  Great 
Mysticetus  of  the  English  naturalists  ;  the  Greenland  Whale  of 
the  English  whalemen ;  the  Baliene  Ordinaire  of  the  French 
whalemen ;  the  Growlands  Walfish  of  the  Swedes.  It  is  the 
whale  which  for  more  than  two  centuries  past  has  been  hunted 
by  the  Dutch  and  English  in  the  Arctic  seas ;  it  is  the  whale 
which  the  American  fishermen  have  long  pursued  in  the  Indian 
ocean,  on  the  Brazil  Banks,  on  the  Nor'  West  Coast,  and 
various  other  parts  of  the  world,  designated  by  them  Right 
Whale  Cruising  Grounds. 

Some  pretend  to  see  a  difference  between  the  Greenland 
whale  of  the  English  and  the  right  whale  of  the  Americans. 
But  they  precisely  agree  in  all  their  grand  features ;  nor  has 
there  yet  been  presented  a  single  determinate  fact  upon  which 
to  ground  a  radical  distinction.     It  is  by  endless  subdivisions 


CETOLOGY.  151 


based  upon  the  most  inconclusive  differences,  that  some  depart- 
ments of  natural  history  become  so  repellingly  intricate.  The 
right  whale  will  be  elsewhere  treated  of  at  some  length,  with 
reference  to  elucidating  the  sperm  whale. 

BOOK  I.  (Folio),  Chapter  hi.  (Fin-Back). — Under  this 
head  I  reckon  a  monster  which,  by  the  various  names  of  Fin- 
Back,  Tall-Spout,  and  Long-John,  has  been  seen  almost  in  eveiy 
sea  and  is  commonly  the  whale  whose  distant  jet  is  so  often 
descried  by  passengers  crossing  the  Atlantic,  in  the  New  York 
packet-tracks.  In  the  length  he  attains,  and  in  his  baleen,  the 
Fin-back  resembles  the  right  whale,  but  is  of  a  less  portly  girth, 
and  a  lighter  color,  approaching  to  olive.  His  great  lips  present 
a  cable-like  aspect,  formed  by  the  intertwisting,  slanting  folds  of 
large  wrinkles.  His  grand  distinguishing  feature,  the  fin,  from 
which  he  derives  his  name,  is  often  a  conspicuous  object.  This 
fin  is  some  three  or  four  feet  long,  growing  vertically  from  the 
hinder  part  of  the  back,  of  an  angular  shape,  and  with  a  very 
sharp  pointed  end.  Even  if  not  the  slightest  other  part  of  the 
creature  be  visible,  this  isolated  fin  will,  at  times,  be  seen  plainly 
projecting  from  the  surface.  When  the  sea  is  moderately  calm, 
and  slightly  marked  with  spherical  ripples,  and  this  gnomon- 
like fin  stands  up  and  casts  shadows  upon  the  wrinkled  surface, 
it  may  well  be  supposed  that  the  watery  circle  surrcnmding  it 
somewhat  resembles  a  dial,  with  its  style  and  wavy  hour-lines 
graved  on  it.  On  that  Ahaz-dial  the  shadow  often  goes  back. 
The  Fin-Back  is  not  gregarious.  He  seems  a  whale-hater,  as  some 
men  are  man-haters.  Very  shy  ;  always  going  solitary;  unex- 
pectedly rising  to  the  surface  in  the  remotest  and  most  sullen 
waters  ;  his  straight  and  single  lofty  jet  rising  like  a  tall  mis- 
anthropic spear  upon  a  barren  plain  ;  gifted  with  such  wondrous 
power  and  velocity  in  swimming,  as  to  defy  all  present  pursuit 
from  man  ;  this  leviathan  seems  the  banished  and  unconquera- 
ble Cain  of  his  race,  bearing  for  his  mark  that  style  upon  his 
back.     From  having  the  baleen  in  his  mouth,  the  Fin-Back  is 


152  CE  TO  LOGY. 


sometimes  included  with  the  right  whale,  among  a  theoretic 
species  denominated  Whalebone  whales,  that  is,  whales  with 
baleen.  Of  these  so  called  Whalebone  whales,  there  would 
seem  to  be  several  varieties,  most  of  which,  however,  are  little 
known.  Broad-nosed  whales  and  beaked  whales  ;  pike-headed 
whales ;  bunched  whales ;  under-jawed  whales  and  rostrated 
whales,  are  the  fishermen's  names  for  a  few  sorts. 

In  connexion  with  this  appellative  of  "  Whalebone  whales," 
it  is  of  great  importance  to  mention,  that  however  such  a  nomen- 
clature may  be  convenient  in  facilitating  allusions  to  some  kind 
of  whales,  yet  it  is  in  vain  to  attempt  a  clear  classification 
of  the  Leviathan,  founded  upon  either  his  baleen,  or  hump,  or 
fin,  or  teeth  ;  notwithstanding  that  those  marked  parts  or  features 
very  obviously  seem  better  adapted  to  afford  the  basis  for  a 
regular  system  of  Cetology  than  any  other  detached  bodily 
distinctions,  which  the  whale,  in  his  kinds,  presents.  How  then  ? 
The  baleen,  hump,  back-fin,  and  teeth  ;  these  are  things  whose 
peculiarities  are  indiscriminately  dispersed  among  all  sorts  of 
whales,  without  any  regard  to  what  may  be  the  nature  of  their 
structure  in  other  and  more  essential  particulars.  Thus,  the 
sperm  whale  and  the  humpbacked  whale,  each  has  a  hump  ; 
but  there  the  similitude  ceases.  Then,  this  same  humpbacked 
whale  and  the  Greenland  whale,  each  of  these  has  baleen  ;  but 
there  again  the  similitude  ceases.  And  it  is  just  the  same  with 
the  other  parts  above  mentioned.  In  various  sorts  of  whales, 
they  form  such  irregular  combinations  ;  or,  in  the  case  of  any 
one  of  them  detached,  such  an  irregular  isolation  ;  as  utterly  to 
defy  all  general  methodization  formed  upon  such  a  basis.  On 
this  rock  every  one  of  the  whale-naturalists  has  split. 

But  it  may  possibly  be  conceived  that,  in  the  internal  parts 
of  the  whale,  in  his  anatomy — there,  at  least,  we  shall  be  able 
to  hit  the  right  classification.  Nay ;  what  thing,  for  example, 
is  there  in  the  Greenland  whale's  anatomy  more  striking  than 
his  baleen  ?    Yet  we  have  seen  that  by  his  baleen  it .  is  impos- 


CETOLOGY.  153 


sible  correctly  to  classify  the  Greenland  whale.  And  if  you 
descend  into  the  bowels  of  the  various  leviathans,  why  there  you 
will  not  find  distinctions  a  fiftieth  part  as  available  to  the 
systematizer  as  those  external  ones  already  enumerated.  What 
then  remains  ?  nothing  but  to  take  hold  of  the  whales  bodily, 
in  their  entire  liberal  volume,  and  boldly  sort  them  that  way. 
And  this  is  the  Bibliographical  system  here  adopted ;  and  it  is 
the  only  one  that  can  possibly  succeed,  for  it  alone  is  practicable. 
To  proceed. 

BOOK  I.  (Folio),  Chapter  iv.  (Hump  Back). — This  whale 
is  often  seen  on  the  northern  American  coast.  He  has  been 
frequently  captured  there,  and  towed  into  harbor.  He  has  a 
great  pack  on  him  like  a  peddler ;  or  you  might  call  him  the 
Elephant  and. Castle  whale.  At  any  rate,  the  popular  name  for 
him  does  not  sufficiently  distinguish  him,  since  the  sperm  whale 
also  has  a  hump,  though  a  smaller  one.  His  oil  is  not  very  valu- 
able. He  has  baleen.  He  is  the  most  gamesome  and  light- 
hearted  of  all  the  whales,  making  more  gay  foam  and  white 
water  generally  than  any  other  of  them. 

BOOK  I.  (Folio),  Chapter  v.  (Razor  Bach). — Of  this  whale 
little  is  known  but  his  name.  I  have  seen  him  at  a  distance 
off  Cape  Horn.  Of  a  retiring  nature,  he  eludes  both  hunters 
and  philosophers.  Though  no  coward,  he  has  never  yet  shown 
any  part  of  him  but  his  back,  which  rises  in  a  long  sharp  ridge. 
Let  him  go.     I  know  little  more  of  him,  nor  does  anybody  else. 

BOOK  I.  (Folio),  Chapter  vi.  (Sulphur  Bottom). — An- 
other retiring  gentleman,  with  a  brimstone  belly,  doubtless  got 
by  scraping  along  the  Tartarian  tiles  in  some  of  his  profounder 
divings.  He  is  seldom  seen ;  at  least  I  have  never  seen  him 
except  in  the  remoter  southern  seas,  and  then  always  at  too 
great  a  distance  to  study  his  countenance.  He  is  never  chased ; 
he  would  run  awoy  with  rope-walks  of  fine.  Prodigies  are  told 
of  him.  Adieu,  Sulphur  Bottom  !  I  can  say  nothing  more  that 
is  true  of  ye,  nor  can  the  oldest  Nantucketer.  ?. 


154  CETOLOGY. 


Thus  ends  BOOK  I.  (Folio),  and  now  begins  BOOK  II. 
(Octavo). 

OCTAVOES.'*  These  embrace  the  whales  of  middling 
magnitude,  among  which  at  present  may  be  numbered : — I., 
the  Grampus  ;  II.,  the  Black  Fish  ;  III.,  the  Narwhale  ;  IV., 
the  Thrasher  ;  V.,  the  Killer. 

BOOK  II.  (Octavo),  Chapter  i.  (Grampus). — Though  this 
fish,  whose  loud  sonorous  breathing,  or  rather  blowing,  has 
furnished  a  proverb  to  landsmen,  is  so  well  known  a  denizen  of 
the  deep,  yet  is  he  not  popularly  classed  among  whales.  But 
possessing  all  the  grand  distinctive  features  of  the  leviathan, 
most  naturalists  have  recognised  him  for  one.  He  is  of  mode- 
rate octavo  size,  varying  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet  in 
length,  and  of  corresponding  dimensions  round  the  waist.  He 
swims  in  herds ;  he  is  never  regularly  hunted,  though  his  oil  is 
considerable  in  quantity,  and  pretty  good  for  light.  By  some 
fishermen  his  approach  is  regarded  as  premonitory  of  the  ad- 
vance of  the  great  sperm  whale. 

BOOK  II.  (Octavo),  Chapter  ii.  (Black  Fish). — I  give  the 
popular  fishermen's  names  for  all  these  fish,  for  generally  they 
are  the  best.  Where  any  name  happens  to  be  vague  or  inex- 
pressive, I  shall  say  so,  and  suggest  another.  I  do  so  now, 
touching  the  Black  Fish,  so  called,  because  blackness  is  the  rule 
among  almost  all  whales.  So,  call  him  the  Hyena  Whale,  if 
you  please.  His  voracity  is  well  known,  and  from  the  circum- 
stance that  the  inner  angles  of  his  lips  are  curved  upwards,  ho 
carries  an  everlasting  Mephistophelean  grin  on  his  face.  This 
whale  averages  some  sixteen  or  eighteen  feet  in  length.  He  is 
found  in  almost  all  latitudes.     He  has  a  peculiar  way  of  show- 

*  Why  this  book  of  whales  is  not  denominated  the  Quarto  is  very 
plain.  Because,  while  the  whales  of  this  order,  though  smaller  than  those 
of  the  former  order,  nevertheless  retain  a  proportionate  likeness  to  them 
in  figure,  yet  the  bookbinder's  Quarto  volume  in  its  diminished  form  does 
not.  preserve  the  shape  of  the  Folio  volume,  but  the  Octavo  volume  does. 


CETOLOGY.  155 


ing  his  dorsal  hooked  fin  in  swimming,  which  looks  something 
like  a  Roman  nose.  When  not  more  profitably  employed,  the 
sperm  whale  hunters  sometimes  capture  the  Hyena  whale,  to 
keep  up  the  supply  of  cheap  oil  for  domestic  employment — as 
some  frugal  housekeepers,  in  the  absence  of  company,  and  quite 
alone  by  themselves,  burn  unsavory  tallow  instead  of  odorous 
wax.  Though  their  blubber  is  very  thin,  some  of  these  whales 
will  yield  you  upwards  of  thirty  gallons  of  oil. 

BOOK  II.  (Octavo),  Chapter  hi.  {Narwhale),  that  is,  Nos- 
tril whale. — Another  instance  of  a  curiously  named  whale,  so 
named  I  suppose  from  his  peculiar  horn  being  originally  mis- 
taken for  a  peaked  nose.  The  creature  is  some  sixteen  feet  in 
length,  while  its  horn  averages  five  feet,  though  some  exceed 
ten,  and  even  attain  to  fifteen  feet.  Strictly  speaking,  this  horn 
is  but  a  lengthened  tusk,  growing  out  from  the  jaw  in  a  line  a 
little  depressed  from  the  horizontal.  But  it  is  only  found  on  the 
sinister  side,  which  has  an  ill  effect,  giving  its  owner  something 
analogous  to  the  aspect  of  a  clumsy  left-handed  man.  What 
precise  purpose  this  ivory  horn  or  lance  answers,  it  would  be 
hard  to  say.  It  does  not  seem  to  be  used  like  the  blade  of  the 
sword-fish  and  bill-fish ;  though  some  sailors  tell  me  that  the 
Narwhale  employs  it  for  a  rake  in  turning  over  the  bottom  of 
the  sea  for  food.  Charley  Coffin  said  it  was  used  for  an  ice- 
piercer  ;  for  the  Narwhale,  rising  to  the  surface  of  the  Polar  Sea, 
and  finding  it  sheeted  with  ice,  thrusts  his  horn  up,  and  so 
breaks  through.  But  you  cannot  prove  either  of  these  surmises 
to  be  correct.  My  own  opinion  is,  that  however  this  one-sided 
horn  may  really  be  used  by  the  Narwhale — however  that  may 
be — it  would  certainly  be  very  convenient  to  him  for  a  folder  in 
reading  pamphlets.  The  Narwhale  I  have  heard  called  the 
Tusked  whale,  the  Horned  whale,  and  the  Unicom  whale.  He 
is  certainly  a  curious  example  of  the  Unicornism  to  be  found  in 
almost  every  kingdom  of  animated  nature.  From  certain  clois- 
tered old  authors  I  have  gathered  that  this  same  sea-unicorn's 


156  C  E  T  0  L  0  G  Y . 


horn  was  in  ancient  days  regarded  as  the  great  antidote  against 
poison,  and  as  such,  preparations  of  it  brought  immense  prices. 
It  was  also  distilled  to  a  volatile  salts  for  fainting  ladies,  the  same 
way  that  the  horns  of  the  male  deer  are  manufactured  into 
hartshorn.  Originally  it  was  in  itself  accounted  an  object  of 
great  curiosity.  Black  Letter  tells  me  that  Sir  Martin  Frobisher 
on  his  return  from  that  voyage,  when  Queen  Bess  did  gallantly 
wave  her  jewelled  hand  to  him  from  a  window  of  Greenwich 
Palace,  as  his  bold  ship  sailed  down  the  Thames ;  "  when  Sir 
Martin  returned  from  that  voyage,"  saith  Black  Letter,  "on 
bended  knees  he  presented  to  her  highness  a  prodigious  long 
horn  of  the  ISarwhale,  which  for  a  long  period  after  hung  in  the 
castle  at  Windsor."  An  Irish  author  avers  that  the  Earl  of  Lei- 
cester, on  bended  knees,  did  likewise  present  to  her  highness 
another  horn,  pertaining  to  a  land  beast  of-  the  unicorn  nature. 

The  ISTarwhale  has  a  very  picturesque,  leopard-like  look,  being 
of  a  milk-white  ground  color,  dotted  with  round  and  oblong 
spots  of  black.  His  oil  is  very  superior,  clear  and  fine ;  but 
there  is  little  of  it,  and  he  is  seldom  hunted.  He  is  mostly 
found  in  the  circum  polar  seas. 

BOOK  II.  (Octavo),  Chapter  IV.  (Killer).— Of  this  whale 
little  is  precisely  known  to  the  Nantucketer,  and  nothing  at  all 
to  the  professed  naturalist.  From  what  I  have  seen  of  him  at 
a  distance,  I  should  say  that  he  was  about  the  bigness  of  a 
grampus.  He  is  very  savage — a  sort  of  Feegee  fish.  He  some- 
times takes  the  great  Folio  whales  by  the  lip,  and  hangs  there 
like  a  leech,  till  the  mighty  brute  is  worried  to  death.  The 
Killer  is  never  hunted.  I  never  heard  what  sort  of  oil  he  has. 
Exception  might  be  taken  to  the  name  bestowed  upon  this  whale, 
on  the  ground  of  its  indistinctness.  For  we  are  all  killers,  on 
land  and  on  sea ;  Bonapartes  and  Sharks  included. 

BOOK  II.  (Octavo),  Chapter  V.  (Thrasher). — This  gentle- 
man is  famous  for  his  tail,  which  he  uses  for  a  ferule  in  thrashing 
his  foes.     He  mounts  the  Folio  whale's  back,  and  as  he  swims, 


CETOLOGY.  157 


he  works  his  passage  by  flogging  him ;  as  some  schoolmasters 
get  along  in  the  world  by  a  similar  process.  Still  less  is  known 
of  the  Thrasher  than  of  the  Killer.  Both  are  outlaws,  even  in 
the  lawless  seas. 

Thus  ends  BOOK  II.  (Octavo),  and  begins  BOOK  III. 
(Duodecimo.) 

DUODECIMOES.— These  include  the  smaller  whales.  I. 
The  Huzza  Porpoise.  II.  The  Algerine  Porpoise.  III.  The 
Mealy-mouthed  Porpoise. 

To  those  who  have  not  chanced  specially  to  study  the  subject, 
it  may  possibly  seem  strange,  that  fishes  not  commonly  exceeding 
four  or  five  feet  should  be  marshalled  among  WHALES — a 
word,  which,  in  the  popular  sense,  always  conveys  an  idea  of 
hugeness.  But  the  creatures  set  down  above  as  Duodecimoes 
are  infallibly  whales,  by  the  terms  of  my  definition  of  what  a 
whale  is — i.  e  a  spouting  fish,  with  a  horizontal  tail. 

BOOK  III.  (Duodecimo),  Chapter  I.  (Huzza  Porpoise). — 
This  is  the  common  porpoise  found  almost  all  over  the  globe. 
The  name  is  of  my  own  bestowal ;  for  there  are  more  than  one 
sort  of  porpoises,  and  something  must  be  done  to  distinguish 
them.  I  call  him  thus,  because  he  always  swims  in  hilarious 
shoals,  which  upon  the  broad  sea  keep  tossing  themselves  to 
heaven  like  caps  in  a  Fourth-of-July  crowd.  Their  appearance 
is  generally  hailed  with  delight  by  the  mariner.  Full  of  fine 
spirits,  they  invariably  come  from  the  breezy  billows  to  wind- 
ward. They  are  the  lads  that  always  live  before  the  wind. 
They  are  accounted  a  lucky  omen.  If  you  yourself  can  with- 
stand three  cheers  at  beholding  these  vivacious  fish,  then  heaven 
help  ye ;  the  spirit  of  godly  gamesomeness  is  not  in  ye.  A 
well-fed,  plump  Huzza  Porpoise  will  yield  you  one  good  gallon 
of  good  oil.  But  the  fine  and  delicate  fluid  extracted  from  his 
jaws  is  exceedingly  valuable.  It  is  in  request  among  jewellers 
and  watchmakers.  Sailors  put  it  on  their  hones.  Porpoise 
meat  is  good  eating,  you  know.     It  may  never  have  occurred 


CETOLOGY. 


to  you  that  a  porpoise  spouts.  Indeed,  his  spout  is  so  small 
that  it  is  not  very  readily  discernible.  But  the  next  time  you 
have  a  chance,  watch  him ;  and  you  will  then  see  the  great 
Sperm  whale  himself  in  miniature. 

BOOK  III.  (Duodecimo),  Chapter  II.  {Algerine  Porpoise). 
A  pirate.  Very  savage.  He  is  only  found,  I  think,  in  the 
Pacific.  He  is  somewhat  larger  than  the  Huzza  Porpoise,  but 
much  of  the  same  general  make.  Provoke  him,  and  he  will 
buckle  to  a  shark.  I  have  lowered  for  him  many  times,  but 
never  yet  saw  him  captured. 

BOOK  III.  (Duodecimo),  Chapter  III.  {Mealy-mouthed 
Porpoise). — The  largest  kind  of  Porpoise  ;  and  only  found  in 
the  Pacific,  so  far  as  it  is  known.  The  only  English  name,  by 
which  he  has  hitherto  been  designated,  is  that  of  the  fishers — 
Right-Whale  Porpoise,  from  the  circumstance  that  he  is  chiefly 
found  in  the  vicinity  of  that  Folio.  In  shape,  he  differs  in 
some  degree  from  the  Huzza  Porpoise,  being  of  a  less  rotund 
and  jolly  girth  ;  indeed,  he  is  of  quite  a  neat  and  gentleman- 
like figure.  He  has  no  fins  on  his  back  (most  other  porpoises 
have),  he  has  a  lovely  tail,  and  sentimental  Indian  eyes  of  a 
hazel  hue.  But  his  mealy-mouth  spoils  all.  Though  his  entire 
back  down  to  his  side  fins  is  of  a  deep  sable,  yet  a  boundary 
line,  distinct  as  the  mark  in  a  ship's  hull,  called  the  "  bright 
waist,"  that  line  streaks  him  from  stem  to  stern,  with  two  sepa- 
rate colors,  black  above  and  white  below.  The  white  comprises 
part  of  his  head,  and  the  whole  of  his  mouth,  which  makes 
him  look  as  if  he  had  just  escaped  from  a  felonious  visit  to  a 
meal-bag.  '  A  most  mean  and  mealy  aspect !     His  oil  is  much 

like  that  of  the  common  porpoise. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Beyond  the  Duodecimo,  this  system  does  not  proceed,  inas- 
much as  the  Porpoise  is  the  smallest  of  the  whales.  Above,  you 
have  all  the  Leviathans  of  note.  But  there  are  a  rabble  of  un- 
certain, fugitive,  half-fabulous  whales,  which,  as  an  American 


THESPECKSYNDER.  159 

whaleman,  I  know  by  reputation,  but  not  personally.  I  shall 
enumerate  them  by  their  forecastle  appellations ;  for  possibly 
such  a  list  may  be  valuable  to  future  investigators,  who  may 
complete  what  I  have  here  but  begun.  If  any  of  the  following 
whales,  shall  hereafter  be  caught  and  marked,  then  he  can  read- 
ily be  incorporated  into  this  System,  according  to  his  Folio,  Oc- 
tavo, or  Duodecimo  magnitude : — The  Bottle-Nose  Whale  ;  the 
Junk  Whale ;  the  Pudding-Headed  Whale  ;  the  Cape  Whale  ; 
the  Leading  Whale ;  the  Cannon  Whale  ;  the  Scragg  Whale ; 
the  Coppered  Whale ;  the  Elephant  Whale ;  the  Iceberg 
Whale  ;  the  Quog  Whale ;  the  Blue  Whale ;  <fcc.  From  Ice- 
landic, Dutch,  and  old  English  authorities,  there  might  be  quoted 
other  lists  of  uncertain  whales,  blessed  with  all  manner  of  un- 
couth names.  But  I  omit  them  as  altogether  obsolete ;  and  can 
hardly  help  suspecting  them  for  mere  sounds,  full  of  Leviathan- 
ism,  but  signifying  nothing. 

Finally :  It  was  stated  at  the  outset,  that  this  system  would 
not  be  here,  and  at  once,  perfected.  You  cannot  but  plainly 
see  that  I  have  kept  my  word.  But  I  now  leave  my  cetological 
System  standing  thus  unfinished,  even  as  the  great  Cathedral 
of  Cologne  was  left,  with  the  crane  still  standing  upon  the  top 
of  the  uncompleted  tower.  For  small  erections  may  be  finished 
by  their  first  architects ;  grand  ones,  true  ones,  ever  leave  the 
copestone  to  posterity.  God  keep  me  from  ever  completing 
anything.  This  whole  book  is  but  a  draught — nay,  but  the 
draught  of  a  draught.     Oh,  Time,  Strength,  Cash,  and  Patience ! 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE    SPECESYNDER. 


Concerning  the  officers  of  the  whale- craft,  this  seems  as  good 
a  place  as  any  to  set  down  a  little  domestic  peculiarity  on  ship- 


160  THESPECKSYNDER. 

board,  arising  from  the  existence  of  the  harpooneer  class  of  offi- 
cers, a  class  unknown  of  course  in  any  other  marine  than  the 
whale- fleet. 

The  large  importance  attached  to  the  harpooneer's  vocation  is 
evinced  by  the  fact,  that  originally  in  the  old  Dutch  Fishery, 
two  centuries  and  more  ago,  the  command  of  a  whale  ship  was 
not  wholly  lodged  in  the  person  now  called  the  captain,  but  was 
divided  between  him  and  an  officer  called  the  Specksynder. 
Literally  this  word  means  Fat-Cutter  ;  usage,  however,  in  time 
made  it  equivalent  to  Chief  Harpooneer.  In  those  days,  the 
captain's  authority  was  restricted  to  the  navigation  and  general 
management  of  the  vessel :  while  over  the  whale-hunting  de- 
partment and  all  its  concerns,  the  Specksynder  or  Chief  Har- 
pooneer reigned  supreme.  In  the  British  Greenland  Fishery, 
under  the  corrupted  title  of  Specksioneer,  this  old  Dutch  official 
is  still  retained,  but  his  former  dignity  is  sadly  abridged.  At 
present  he  ranks  simply  as  senior  Harpooneer  ;  and  as  such,  is 
but  one  of  the  captain's  more  inferior  subalterns.  Nevertheless, 
as  upon  the  good  conduct  of  the  harpooneers  the  success  of  a 
whaling  voyage  largely  depends,  and  since  in  the  American 
Fishery  he  is  not  only  an  important  officer  in  the  boat,  but  un- 
der certain  circumstances  (night  watches  on  a  whaling  ground) 
the  command  of  the  ship's  deck  is  also  his  ;  therefore  the  grand 
political  maxim  of  the  sea  demands,  that  he  should  nominally 
live  apart  from  the  men  before  the  mast,  and  be  in  some  way 
distinguished  as  their  professional  superior  ;  though  always,  by 
them,  familiarly  regarded  as  their  social  equal. 

Now,  the  grand  distinction  drawn  between  officer  and  man  at 
sea,  is  this — the  first  lives  aft,  the  last  forward.  Hence,  in 
whale-ships  and  merchantmen  alike,  the  mates  have  their  quar- 
ters with  the  captain ;  and  so,  too,  in  most  of  the  American 
whalers  the  harpooneers  are  lodged  in  the  after  part  of  the  ship. 
That  is  to  say,  they  take  their  meals  in  the  captains  cabin,  and 
sleep  in  a  place  indirectly  communicating  with  it. 


THE    SPECKSYNDER.  161 

Though  the  long  period  of  a  Southern  whaling  voyage  (by  far 
the  longest  of  all  voyages  now  or  ever  made  by  man),  the 
peculiar  perils  of  it,  and  the  community  of  interest  prevailing 
among  a  company,  all  of  whom,  high  or  low,  depend  for  their 
profits,  not  upon  fixed  wages,  but  upon  their  common  luck, 
together  with  their  common  vigilance,  intrepidity,  and  hard  work ; 
though  all  these  things  do  in  some  cases  tend  to  beget  a  less 
rigorous  discipline  than  in  merchantmen  generally ;  yet,  never 
mind  how  much  like  an  old  Mesopotamian  family  these  whale- 
men may,  in  some  primitive  instances,  live  together ;  for  all 
that,  the  punctilious  externals,  at  least,  of  the  quarter-deck  are 
seldom  materially  relaxed,  and  in  no  instance  done  away.  In- 
deed, many  are  the  Nantucket  ships  in  which  you  will  see  the 
skipper  parading  his  quarter-deck  with  an  elated  grandeur  not 
surpassed  in  any  military  navy ;  nay,  extorting  almost  as  much 
outward  homage  as  if  he  wore  the  imperial  purple,  and  not  the 
shabbiest  of  pilot-cloth. 

And  though  of  all  men  the  moody  captain  of  the  Pequod  was 
the  least  given  to  that  sort  of  shallowest  assumption ;  and 
though  the  only  homage  he  ever  exacted,  was  implicit,  instan- 
taneous obedience  ;  though  he  required  no  man  to  remove  the 
shoes  from  his  feet  ere  stepping  upon  the  quarter-deck ;  and 
though  there  were  times  when,  owing  to  peculiar  circumstances 
connected  with  events  hereafter  to  be  detailed,  he  addressed 
them  in  unusual  terms,  whether  of  condescension  or  in  terrorem, 
or  otherwise  ;  yet  even  Captain  Ahab  was  by  no  means 
unobservant  of  the  paramount  forms  and  usages  of  the  sea. 

Nor,  perhaps,  will  it  fail  to  be  eventually  perceived,  that  be- 
hind those  forms  and  usages,  as  it  were,  he  sometimes  masked 
himself;  incidentally  making  use  of  them  for  other  and  more 
private  ends  than  they  were  legitimately  intended  to  subserve. 
That  certain  sultanism  of  his  brain,  which  had  otherwise  in  a 
good  degree  remained  unmanifested ;  through  those  forms  that 
same  sultanism  became  incarnate  in  an  irresistible  dictatorship. 


162  THE     CABIN    TABLE. 

For  be  a  man's  intellectual  superiority  what  it  will,  it  can  never 
assume  the  practical,  available  supremacy  over  other  men,  with- 
out the  aid  of  some  sort  of  external  arts  and  entrenchments, 
always,  in  themselves,  more  or  less  paltry  and  base.  This  it  is, 
that  for  ever  keeps  God's  true  princes  of  the  Empire  from  the 
world's  hustings ;  and  leaves  the  highest  honors  that  this  air 
can  give,  to  those  men  who  become  famous  more  through  their 
infinite  inferiority  to  the  choice  hidden  handful  of  the  Divine 
Inert,  than  through  their  undoubted  superiority  over  the  dead 
level  of  the  mass.  Such  large  virtue  lurks  in  these  small 
things  when  extreme  political  superstitions  invest  them,  that  in 
some  royal  instances  even  to  idiot  imbecility  they  have  impart- 
ed potency.  But  when,  as  in  the  case  of  Nicholas  the  Czar, 
the  ringed  crown  of  geographical  empire  encircles  an  imperial 
brain ;  then,  the  plebeian  herds  crouch  abased  before  the  tre- 
mendous centralization.  Nor,  will  the  tragic  dramatist  who 
would  depict  mortal  indomitableness  in  its  fullest  sweep  and  di- 
rect swing,  ever  forget  a  hint,  incidentally  so  important  in  his 
art,  as  the  one  now  alluded  to. 

But  Ahab,  my  Captain,  still  moves  before  me  in  all  his  Nan- 
tucket grimness  and  shagginess ;  and  in  this  episode  touching 
Emperors  and  Bangs,  I  must  not  conceal  that  I  have  only  to  do 
with  a  poor  old  whale-hunter  like  him  ;  and,  therefore,  all  out- 
ward majestical  trappings  and  housings  are  denied  me.  Oh, 
Ahab  !  what  shall  be  grand  in  thee,  it  must  needs  be  plucked 
at  from  the  skies,  and  dived  for  in  the  deep,  and  featured  in  the 
unbodied  air! 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE    CABIN-TABLE. 


It   is   noon;    and  Dough-Boy,  the   steward,  thrusting   his 
j>ale  loaf-of-bread  face  from  the  cabin-scuttle,  announces  dinner 


THE    CABIN    TABLE.  163 

to  his  lord  and  master ;  who,  sitting  in  the  lee  quarter-boat,  has 
just  been  taking  an  observation  of  the  sun ;  and  is  now  mutely 
reckoning  the  latitude  on  the  smooth,  medallion-shaped  tablet, 
reserved  for  that  daily  purpose  on  the  upper  part  of  his  ivory 
leg.  From  his  complete  inattention  to  the  tidings,  you  would 
think  that  moody  Ahab  had  not  heard  his  menial.  But  pre- 
sently, catching  hold  of  the  mizen  shrouds,  he  swings  himself 
to  the  deck,  and  in  an  even,  unexhilarated  voice,  saying, 
"  Dinner,  Mr.  Starbuck,"  disappears  into  the  cabin. 

When  the  last  echo  of  his  sultan's  step  has  died  away,  and 
Starbuck,  the  first  Emir,  has  every  reason  to  suppose  that  he 
is  seated,  then  Starbuck  rouses  from  his  quietude,  takes  a  few 
turns  along  the  planks,  and,  after  a  grave  peep  into  the  binnacle, 
says,  with  some  touch  of  pleasantness,  "  Dinner,  Mr.  Stubb," 
and  descends  the  scuttle.  The  second  Emir  lounges  about  the 
rigging  awhile,  and  then  slightly  shaking  the  main  brace,  to  see 
whether  it  be  all  right  with  that  important  rope,  he  likewise  takes 
up  the  old  burden,  and  with  a  rapid  "  Dinner,  Mr.  Flask,"  fol- 
lows after  his  predecessors. 

But  the  third  Emir,  now  seeing  himself  all  alone  on  the 
quarter-deck,  seems  to  feel  relieved  from  some  curious  restraint ; 
for,  tipping  all  sorts  of  knowing  winks  in  all  sorts  of  directions, 
and  kicking  off  his  shoes,  he  strikes  into  a  sharp  but  noiseless 
squall  of  a  hornpipe  right  over  the  Grand  Turk's  head ;  and 
then,  by  a  dexterous  sleight,  pitching  his  cap  up  into  the  mizen- 
top  for  a  shelf,  he  goes  down  rollicking,  so  far  at  least  as  he 
remains  visible  from  the  deck,  reversing  all  other  processions, 
by  bringing  up  the  rear  with  music.  But  ere  stepping  into  the 
cabin  doorway  below,  he  pauses,  ships  a  new  face  altogether, 
and,  then,  independent,  hilarious  little  Flask  enters  King  Ahab's 
presence,  in  the  character  of  Abjectus,  or  the  Slave. 

It  is  not  the  least  among  the  strange  things  bred  by  the 
intense  artificialness  of  sea-usages,  that  while  in  the  open  air  i 
of  the  deck  some  officers  will,  upon  provocation,  bear  themselves 


164  THE    CABIN    TABLE. 

boldly  and  defyingly  enough  towards  their  commander ;  yet, 
ten  to  one,  let  those  very  officers  the  next  moment  go  down  to 
their  customary  dinner  in  that  same  commander's  cabin,  and 
straightway  their  inoffensive,  not  to  say  deprecatory  and  humble 
air  towards  him,  as  he  sits  at  the  head  of  the  table ;  this  is  mar- 
vellous, sometimes  most  comical.  Wherefore  this  difference  ?  A 
problem  ?  Perhaps  not.  To  have  been  Belshazzar,  King  of 
Babylon  ;  and  to  have  been  Belshazzar,  not  haughtily  but  cour- 
teously, therein  certainly  must  have  been  some  touch  of  mun- 
dane grandeur.  But  he  who  in  the  rightly  regal  and  intelli- 
gent spirit  presides  over  his  own  private  dinner-table  of  invited 
guests,  that  man's  unchallenged  power  and  dominion  of  indivi- 
dual influence  for  the  time ;  that  man's  royalty  of  state 
transcends  Belshazzar's,  for  Belshazzar  was  not  the  greatest. 
Who  has  but  once  dined  his  friends,  has  tasted  what  it  is  to 
be  Csesar.  It  is  a  witchery  of  social  czarship  which  there  is  no 
withstanding.  Now,  if  to  this  consideration  you  superadd  the 
official  supremacy  of  a  ship-master,  then,  by  inference,  you  will 
derive  the  cause  of  that  peculiarity  of  sea-life  just  mentioned. 

Over  his  ivory-inlaid  table,  Ahab  presided  like  a  mute, 
maned  sea-lion  on  the  white  coral  beach,  surrounded  by  his  war- 
like but  still  deferential  cubs.  In  his  own  proper  turn,  each 
officer  waited  to  be  served.  They  were  as  little  children  before 
Ahab  ;  and  yet,  in  Ahab,  there  seemed  not  to  lurk  the  smallest 
social  arrogance.  With  one  mind,  their  intent  eyes  all  fastened 
upon  the  old  man's  knife,  as  he  carved  the  chief  dish  before 
him.  I  do  not  suppose  that  for  the  world  they  would  have  pro- 
faned that  moment  with  the  slightest  observation,  even  upon  so 
neutral  a  topic  as  the  weather.  No  !  And  when  reaching  out 
his  knife  and  fork,  between  which  the  slice  of  beef  was  locked, 
Ahab  thereby  motioned  Starbuck's  plate  towards  him,  the 
mate  received  his  meat  as  though  receiving  alms ;  and  cut  it 
tenderly ;  and  a  little  started  if,  perchance,  the  knife  grazed 
against  the  plate  ;  and  chewed  it  noiselessly  ;  and  swallowed  it, 


THE    CABIN    TABLE.  165 

not  without  circumspection.  For,  like  the  Coronation  banquet 
at  Frankfort,  where  the  German  Emperor  profoundly  dines  with 
the  seven  Imperial  Electors,  so  these  cabin  meals  were  somehow 
solemn  meals,  eaten  in  awful  silence  ;  and  yet  at  table  old  Ahab 
forbade  not  conversation  ;  only  he  himself  was  dumb.  What  a 
relief  it  was  to  choking  Stubb,  when  a  rat  made  a  sudden  racket 
in  the  hold  below.  And  poor  little  Flask,  he  was  the  youngest 
son,  and  little  boy  of  this  weary  family  party.  His  were  the  shin- 
bones  of  the  saline  beef;  his  would  have  been  the  drumsticks. 
For  Flask  to  have  presumed  to  help  himself,  this  must  have  seemed 
to  him  tantamount  to  larceny  in  the  first  degree.  Had  he 
helped  himself  at  that  table,  doubtless,  never  more  would  he  have 
been  able  to  hold  his  head  up  in  this  honest  world ;  neverthe- 
less, strange  to  say,  Ahab  never  forbade  him.  And  had  Flask 
helped  himself,  the  chances  were  Ahab  had  never  so  much 
as  noticed  it.  Least  of  all,  did  Flask  presume  to  help  himself 
to  butter.  Whether  he  thought  the  owners  of  the  ship  denied 
it  to  him,  on  account  of  its  clotting  his  clear,  sunny  complexion ; 
or  whether  he  deemed  that,  on  so  long  a  voyage  in  such 
marketless  waters,  butter  was  at  a  premium,  and  therefore  was 
not  for  him,  a  subaltern ;  however  it  was,  Flask,  alas  !  was  a 
butterless  man  ! 

Another  thing.  Flask  was  the  last  person  down  at  the  din- 
ner, and  Flask  is  the  first  man  up.  Consider !  For  hereby 
Flask's  dinner  was  badly  jammed  in  point  of  time.  Starbuck 
and  Stubb  both  had  the  start  of  him  ;  and  yet  they  also  have 
the  privilege  of  lounging  in  the  rear.  If  Stubb  even,  who  is 
but  a  peg  higher  than  Flask,  happens  to  have  but  a  small 
appetite,  and  soon  shows  symptoms  of  concluding  his  repast, 
then  Flask  must  bestir  himself,  he  will  not  get  more  than  three 
mouthfuls  that  day ;  for  it  is  against  holy  usage  for  Stubb  to 
precede  Flask  to  the  deck.  Therefore  it  was  that  Flask  once 
admitted  in  private,  that  ever  since  he  had  arisen  to  the  dignity  . 
of  an  officer,  from  that  moment  he  had  never  known  what 


166  THE    CABIN    TABLE. 

it  was  to  be  otherwise  than  hungry,  more  or  less.  For  what 
he  ate  did  not  so  much  relieve  his  hunger,  as  keep  it  immor- 
tal in  him.  Peace  and  satisfaction,  thought  Flask,  have 
for  ever  departed  from  my  stomach.  I  am  an  officer ;  but,  how 
I  wish  I  could  fist  a  bit  of  old-fashioned  beef  in  the  forecastle, 
as  I  used  to  when  I  was  before  tbe  mast.  Tbere's  the  fruits  of 
promotion  now ;  there's  the  vanity  of  glory :  there's  the 
insanity  of  life !  Besides,  if  it  were  so  that  any  mere  sailor  of 
the  Pequod  had  a  grudge  against  Flask  in  Flask's  official  capa- 
city, all  that  sailor  had  to  do,  in  order  to  obtain  ample 
vengeance,  was  to  go  aft  at  dinner-time,  and  get  a  peep  at 
Flask  through  the  cabin  sky-light,  sitting  silly  and  dumfound- 
ered  before  awful  Ahab. 

Now,  Ahab  and  his  three  mates  formed  what  may  be  called 
the  first  table  in  the  Pequod's  cabin.  After  their  departure, 
taking  place  in  inverted  order  to  their  arrival,  the  canvas  cloth 
was  cleared,  or  rather  was  restored  to  some  hurried  order  by 
the  pallid  steward.  And  then  the  three  harpooneers  were 
bidden  to  the  feast,  they  being  its  residuary  legatees.  They 
made  a  sort  of  temporary  servants'  hall  of  the  high  and  mighty 
cabin. 

In  strange  contrast  to  the  hardly  tolerable  constraint  and 
nameless  invisible  domineerings  of  the  captain's  table,  was  the 
entire  care-free  license  and  ease,  the  almost  frantic  democracy 
of  those  inferior  fellows  the  harpooneers.  While  their  masters, 
the  mates,  seemed  afraid  of  the  sound  of  the  hinges  of  their 
own  jaws,  the  harpooneers  chewed  their  food  with  such  a 
relish  that  there  was  a  report  to  it.  They  dined  like  lords ; 
they  filled  their  bellies  like  Indian  ships  all  day  loading  with 
spices.  Such  portentous  appetites  bad  Queequeg  and 
Tashtego,  that  to  fill  out  the  vacancies  made  by  the  previous 
repast,  often  the  pale  Dough-Boy  was  fain  to  bring  on  a  great 
baron  of  salt-junk,  seemingly  quarried  out  of  the  solid  ox. 
And  if  he  were  not  lively  about  it,  if  he  did  not  go  with  a  nim- 


THE    CABIN    TABLE.  167 

ble  hop-skip-and-jump,  then  Tashtego  had  an  ungentlemanly 
way  of  accelerating  him  by  darting  a  fork  at  his  back,  harpoon- 
wise.  And  once  Daggoo,  seized  with  a  sudden  humor, 
assisted  Dough-Boy's  memory  by  snatching  him  up  bodily,  and 
thrusting  his  head  into  a  great  empty  wooden  trencher,  while 
Tashtego,  knife  in  hand,  began  laying  out  the  circle  prelimi- 
nary to  scalping  him.  He  was  naturally  a  very  nervous, 
shuddering  sort  of  little  fellow,  this  bread-faced  steward ;  the 
progeny  of  a  bankrupt  baker  and  a  hospital  nurse.  And  what 
with  the  standing  spectacle  of  the  black  terrific  Ahab,  and  the 
periodical  tumultuous  visitations  of  these  three  savages,  Dough- 
Boy's  whole  life  was  one  continual  lip-quiver.  Commonly, 
after  seeing  the  harpooneers  furnished  with  all  things  they 
demanded,  he  would  escape  from  their  clutches  into  his  little 
pantry  adjoining,  and  fearfully  peep  out  at  them  through 
the  blinds  of  its  door,  till  all  was  over. 

It  was  a  sight  to  see  Queequeg  seated  over  against  Tashtego, 
opposing  his  filed  teeth  to  the  Indian's :  crosswise  to  them, 
Daggoo  seated  on  the  floor,  for  a  bench  would  have  brought 
his  hearse-plumed  head  to  the  low  carlines ;  at  every  motion 
of  his  colossal  limbs,  making  the  low  cabin  framework  to  shake, 
as  when  an  African  elephant  goes  passenger  in  a  ship.  But  for 
all  this,  the  great  negro  was  wonderfully  abstemious,  not  to  say 
dainty.  It  seemed  hardly  possible  that  by  such  comparatively 
small  mouthfuls  he  could  keep  up  the  vitality  diffused  through 
so  broad,  baronial,  and  superb  a  person.  But,  doubtless,  this 
noble  savage  fed  strong  and  drank  deep  of  the  abounding  ele- 
ment of  air  ;  and  through  his  dilated  nostrils  snuffed  in  the  sub- 
lime life  of  the  worlds.  Not  by  beef  or  by  bread,  are  giants 
made  or  nourished.  But  Queequeg,  he  had  a  mortal,  barbaric 
smack  of  the  lip  in  eating— an  ugly  sound  enough — so  much 
so,  that  the  trembling  Dough-Boy  almost  looked  to  see  whether 
any  marks  of  teeth  lurked  in  his  own  lean  arms.  And  when 
he  Avould  hear  Tashtego  singing  out  for  him  to  produce  himself, 


168  THE    CABIN    TABLE. 

that  his  bones  might  be  picked,  the  simple-witted  Steward  all 
but  shattered  the  crockery  hanging  round  him  in  the  pantry,  by 
his  sudden  fits  of  the  palsy.  Nor  did  the  whetstone  which  the 
harpooneers  carried  in  their  pockets,  for  their  lances  and  other 
weapons ;  and  with  which  whetstones,  at  dinner,  they  would 
ostentatiously  sharpen  then-  knives  ;  that  grating  sound  did  not 
at  all  tend  to  tranquillize  poor  Dough-Boy.  How  could  he  for- 
get that  in  his  Island  days,  Queequeg,  for  one,  must  certainly 
have  been  guilty  of  some  murderous,  convivial  indiscretions. 
Alas  !  Dough-Boy  !  hard  fares  the  white  waiter  who  waits  upon 
cannibals.  Not  a  napkin  should  he  carry  on  his  arm,  but  a 
buckler.  In  good  time,  though,  to  his  great  delight,  the  three 
salt-sea  warriors  would  rise  and  depart ;  to  his  credulous,  fable- 
mongering  ears,  all  their  martial  bones  jingling  in  them  at  every 
step,  like  Moorish  scimetars  in  scabbards. 

But,  though  these  barbarians  dined  in  the  cabin,  and  nomi- 
nally lived  there ;  still,  being  anything  but  sedentary  in  their 
habits,  they  were  scarcely  ever  in  it  except  at  meal-times,  and 
just  before  sleeping-time,  when  they  passed  through  it  to  their 
own  peculiar  quarters. 

In  this  one  matter,  Ahab  seemed  no  exception  to  most  Ame- 
rican whale  captains,  who,  as  a  set,  rather  incline  to  the  opinion 
that  by  rights  the  ship's  cabin  belongs  to  them ;  and  that 
it  is  by  courtesy  alone  that  anybody  else  is,  at  any  time,  per- 
mitted there.  So  that,  in  real  truth,  the  mates  and  harpooneers 
of  the  Pequod  might  more  properly  be  said  to  have  lived  out 
of  the  cabin  than  in  it.  For  when  they  did  enter  it,  it  was 
something  as  a  street-door  enters  a  house  ;  turning  inwards  for 
a  moment,  only  to  be  turned  out  the  next ;  and,  as  a  permanent 
thing,  residing  in  the  open  air.  Nor  did  they  lose  much  hereby ; 
in  the  cabin  was  no  companionship ;  socially,  Ahab  was  inac- 
cessible. Though  nominally  included  in  the  census  of  Christen- 
dom, he  was  still  an  alien  to  it.  He  lived  in  the  world,  as  the 
last  of  the  Grisly  Bears  lived  in  settled  Missouri.     And  as  when 


THE    MAST-HEAD.  169 

Spring  and  Summer  had  departed,  that  wild  Logan  of  the 
woods,  burying  himself  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree,  lived  out  the 
winter  there,  sucking  his  own  paws ;  so,  in  his  inclement,  howling 
old  age,  Ahab's  soul,  shut  up  in  the  caved  trunk  of  his  body, 
there  fed  upon  the  sullen  paws  of  its  gloom  ! 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

THE  MAST-HEAD. 

It  was  during  the  more  pleasant  weather,  that  in  due  rotation 
with  the  other  seamen  my  first  mast-head  came  round. 

In  most  American  whalemen  the  mast-heads  are  manned  al- 
most simultaneously  with  the  vessel's  leaving  her  port ;  even 
though  she  may  have  fifteen  thousand  miles,  and  more,  to  sail 
ere  reaching  her  proper  cruising  ground.  And  if,  after  a  three, 
four,  or  five  years'  voyage  she  is  drawing  nigh  home  with  any- 
thing empty  in  her — say,  an  empty  vial  even — then,  her  mast- 
heads are  kept  manned  to  the  last ;  and  not  till  her  skysail- 
poles  sail  in  among  the  spires  of  the  port,  does  she  altogether 
relinquish  the  hope  of  capturing  one  whale  more. 

Now,  as  the  business  of  standing  mast-heads,  ashore  or  afloat, 
is  a  very  ancient  and  interesting  one,  let  us  in  some  measure  ex- 
patiate here.  I  take  it,  that  the  earliest  standers  of  mast-heads 
were  the  old  Egyptians ;  because,  in  all  my  researches,  I  find 
none  prior  to  them.  For  though  their  progenitors,  the  builders 
of  Babel,  must  doubtless,  by  their  tower,  have  intended  to  rear 
the  loftiest  mast-head  in  all  Asia,  or  Africa  either  ;  yet  (ere  the 
final  truck  was  put  to  it )  as  that  great  stone  mast  of  theirs  may 
be  said  to  have  gone  by  the  board,  in  the  dread  gale  of  God's 
wrath ;  therefore,  we  cannot  give  these  Babel  builders  priority 
over  the  Egyptians.     And  that  the  Egyptians  were  a  nation  of 


170  THE    MAST-HEAD. 

mast-head  standees,  is  an  assertion  based  upon  the  general 
belief  among  archaeologists,  that  the  first  pyramids  were  founded 
for  astronomical  purposes  :  a  theory  singularly  supported  by  the 
peculiar  stair-like  formation  of  all  four  sides  of  those  edifices ; 
whereby,  with  prodigious  long  uphftings  of  their  legs,  those  old 
astronomers  were  wont  to  mount  to  the  apex,  and  sing  out  for 
new  stars  ;  even  as  the  look-outs  of  a  modern  ship  sing  out  for 
a  sail,  or  a  whale  just  bearing  in  sight.  In  Saint  Stylites,  the 
famous  Christian  hermit  of  old  times,  who  built  him  a  lofty 
stone  pillar  in  the  desert  and  spent  the  whole  latter  portion  of 
his  life  on  its  summit,  hoisting  his  food  from  the  ground  with  a 
tackle ;  in  him  we  have  a  remarkable  instance  of  a  dauntless 
stander-of-mast-heads  ;  who  was  not  to  be  driven  from  his  place 
by  fogs  or  frosts,  rain,  hail,  or  sleet ;  but  valiantly  facing  every- 
thing out  to  the  last,  literally  died  at  his  post.  Of  modern 
standers-of-mast-heads  we  have  but  a  lifeless  set ;  mere  stone, 
iron,  and  bronze  men ;  who,  though  well  capable  of  facing  out  a 
stiff  gale,  are  still  entirely  incompetent  to  the  business  of  singing 
out  upon  discovering  any  strange  sight.  There  is  Napoleon ; 
who,  upon  the  top  of  the  column  of  Vendome,  stands  with  arms 
folded,  some  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  in  the  air ;  careless,  now, 
who  rules  the  decks  below ;  whether  Louis  Philippe,  Louis 
Blanc,  or  Louis  the  Devil.  Great  Washington,  too,  stands  high 
aloft  on  his  towering  main-mast  in  Baltimore,  and  like  one  of 
Hercules'  pillars,  his  column  marks  that  point  of  human  gran- 
deur beyond  which  few  mortals  will  go.  Admiral  Nelson,  also, 
on  a  capstan  of  gun-metal,  stands  his  mast-head  in  Trafalgar 
Square  ;  and  ever  when  most  obscured  by  that  London  smoke, 
token  is  yet  given  that  a  hidden  hero  is  there  ;  for  where  there 
is  smoke,  must  be  fire.  But  neither  great  Washington,  nor 
Napoleon,  nor  Nelson,  will  answer  a  single  hail  from  below, 
however  madly  invoked  to  befriend  by  their  counsels  the  dis- 
tracted decks  upon  which  they  gaze ;  however  it  may  be  sur- 
mised, that  their  spirits  penetrate  through  the  thick  haze  of  tiie 


THE    MAST-HEAD.  171 

future,  and  descry   what   shoals    and    what    rocks   must   be 
shunned. 

It  may  seem  unwarrantable  to  couple  in  any  respect  the 
mast-head  standers  of  the  land  with  those  of  the  sea  ;  but  that 
in  truth  it  is  not  so,  is  plainly  evinced  by  an  item  for  which 
Obed  Macy,  the  sole  historian  of  Nantucket,  stands  accountable. 
The  worthy  Obed  tells  us,  that  in  the  early  times  of  the  whale 
fishery,  ere  ships  were  regularly  launched  in  pursuit  of  the  game, 
the  people  of  that  island  erected  lofty  spars  along  the  sea-coast, 
to  which  the  look-outs  ascended  by  means  of  nailed  cleats, 
something  as  fowls  go  upstairs  in  a  hen-house.  A  few  years 
ago  this  same  plan  was  adopted  by  the  Bay  whalemen  of  New 
Zealand,  who,  upon  descrying  the  game,  gave  notice  to  the 
ready-manned  boats  nigh  the  beach.  But  this  custom  has  now 
become  obsolete ;  turn  we  then  to  the  one  proper  mast-head, 
that  of  a  whale-ship  at  sea.  The  three  mast-heads  are  kept 
manned  from  sun-rise  to  sun-set ;  the  seamen  taking  their  regu- 
lar turns  (as  at  the  helm),  and  relieving  each  other  every  two 
hours.  In  the  serene  weather  of  the  tropics  it  is  exceedingly 
pleasant  the  mast-head ;  nay,  to  a  dreamy  meditative  man  it  is 
delightful.  There  you  stand,  a  hundred  feet  above  the  silent 
decks,  striding  along  the  deep,  as  if  the  masts  were  gigantic 
stilts,  while  beneath  you  and  between  your  legs,  as  it  were, 
swim  the  hugest  monsters  of  the  sea,  even  as  ships  once  sailed 
between  the  boots  of  the  famous  Colossus  at  old  Rhodes.  There 
you  stand,  lost  in  the  infinite  series  of  the  sea,  with  nothing 
ruffled  but  the  waves.  The  tranced  ship  indolently  rolls ;  the 
drowsy  trade  winds  blow ;  everything  resolves  you  into  languor. 
For  the  most  part,  in  this  tropic  whaling  life,  a  sublime  unevent- 
fulness  invests  you ;  you  hear  no  news  ;  read  no  gazettes  ;  extras 
with  startling  accounts  of  commonplaces  never  delude  you  into 
unnecessary  excitements ;  you  hear  of  no  domestic  afflictions  ; 
bankrupt  securities  ;  fall  of  stocks ;  are  never  troubled  with  the 
thought  of  what  you  shall  have  for  dinner — for  all  your  meals 


172  THE    MAST-HEAD 


for  three  years  and  more  are  snugly  stowed  in  casks,  and  your 
bill  of  fare  is  immutable. 

In  one  of  those  southern  whalemen,  on  a  long  three  or  four 
years'  voyage,  as  often  happens,  the  sum  of  the  various  hours 
you  spend  at  the  mast-head  would  amount  to  several  entire 
months.  And  it  is  much  to  be  deplored  that  the  place  to  which 
you  devote  so  considerable  a  portion  of  the  whole  term  of  your 
natural  life,  should  be  so  sadly  destitute  of  anything  approaching 
to  a  cosy  inhabitiveness,  or  adapted  to  breed  a  comfortable 
localness  of  feeling,  such  as  pertains  to  a  bed,  a  hammock,  a 
hearse,  a  sentiy  box,  a  pulpit,  a  coach,  or  any  other  of  those 
small  and  snug  contrivances  in  which  men  temporarily  isolate 
themselves.  Your  most  usual  point  of  perch  is  the  head  of  the 
t'  gallant-mast,  where  you  stand  upon  two  thin  parallel  sticks 
(almost  peculiar  to  whalemen)  called  the  t'  gallant  cross-trees. 
Here,  tossed  about  by  the  sea,  the  beginner  feels  about  as 
cosy  as  he  would  standing  on  a  bull's  horns.  To  be  sure,  in 
cold  weather  you  may  carry  your  house  aloft  with  you,  in  the 
shape  of  a  watch-coat  ;  but  properly  speaking  the  thickest 
watch-coat  is  no  more  of  a  house  than  the  unclad  body  ;  for  as 
the  soul  is  glued  inside  of  its  fleshly  tabernacle,  and  cannot  freely 
move  about  in  it,  nor  even  move  out  of  it,  without  running 
great  risk  of  perishing  (like  an  ignorant  pilgrim  crossing  the 
snowy  Alps  in  winter) ;  so  a  watch-coat  is  not  so  much  of  a  house 
as  it  is  a  mere  envelope,  or  additional  skin  encasing  you.  You 
cannot  put  a  shelf  or  chest  of  drawers  in  your  body,  and  no 
more  can  you  make  a  convenient  closet  of  your  watch-coat. 

Concerning  all  this,  it  is  much  to  be  deplored  that  the  mast- 
heads of  a  southern  whale  ship  are  unprovided  with  those  envi- 
able little  tents  or  pulpits,  called  crow's-nests,  in  which  the  look- 
outs of  a  Greenland  whaler  are  protected  from  the  inclement 
weather  of  the  frozen  seas.  In  the  fire-side  narrative  of  Captain 
Sleet,  entitled  "  A  Voyage  among  the  Icebergs,  in  quest  of  the 
Greenland  Whale,  and  incidentally  for  the  re-discovery  of  the 


THE    MAST-HEAD.  173 


Lost  Icelandic  Colonies  of  Old  Greenland ; "  in  this  admirable 
volume,  all  standers  of  mast-heads  are  furnished  with  a  charm- 
ingly circumstantial  account  of  the  then  recently  invented  crow's- 
nest  of  the  Glacier,  which  was  the  name  of  Captain  Sleet's  good" 
craft.  He  called  it  the  Sleet's  crow's-nest,  in  honor  of  himself; 
he  being  the  original  inventor  and  patentee,  and  free  from  all 
ridiculous  false  delicacy,  and  holding  that  if  we  call  our  own 
children  after  our  own  names  (we  fathers  being  the  original 
inventors  and  patentees),  so  likewise  should  we  denominate  after 
ourselves  any  other  apparatus  we  may  beget.  In  shape,  the 
Sleet's  crow's-nest  is  something  like  a  large  tierce  or  pipe ;  it  is 
open  above,  however,  where  it  is  furnished  with  a  movable 
side-screen  to  keep  to  windward  of  your  head  in  a  hard  gale. 
Being  fixed  on  the  summit  of  the  mast,  you  ascend  into  it 
through  a  little  trap-hatch  in  the  bottom.  On  the  after  side,  or 
side  next  the  stern  of  the  ship,  is  a  comfortable  seat,  with  a 
locker  underneath  for  umbrellas,  comforters,  and  coats.  In 
front  is  a  leather  rack,  in  which  to  keep  your  speaking  trumpet, 
pipe,  telescope,  and  other  nautical  conveniences.  When  Captain 
Sleet  in  person  stood  his  mast-head  in  this  crow's  nest  of  his,  he 
tells  us  that  he  always  had  a  rifle  with  him  (also  fixed  in  the 
rack),  together  with  a  powder  flask  and  shot,  for  the  purpose  of 
popping  off  the  stray  narwhales,  or  vagrant  sea  unicorns  infest- 
iiig  those  waters  ;  for  you  cannot  successfully  shoot  at  them  from 
the  deck  owing  to  the  resistance  of  the  water,  but  to  shoot  down 
upon  them  is  a  very  different  thing.  Now,  it  was  plainly  a 
labor  of  love  for  Captain  Sleet  to  describe,  as  he  does,  all  the 
little  detailed  conveniences  of  his  crow's-nest ;  but  though  he  so 
enlarges  upon  many  of  these,  and  though  he  treats  us  to  a 
very  scientific  account  of  his  experiments  in  this  crow's-nest, 
with  a  small  compass  he  kept  there  for  the  purpose  of  counter- 
acting the  errors  resulting  from  what  is  called  the  "  local  attrac- 
tion "  of  all  binnacle  magnets ;  an  error  ascribable  to  the  horizontal 
vicinity  of  the  iron  in  the  ship's  planks,  and  in  the  Glacier's 


174  THE    MAST-HEAD. 

case,  perhaps,  to  there  having  heen  so  many  broken-down  black- 
smiths among  her  crew ;  I  say,  that  though  the  Captain  is  very 
discreet  and  scientific  here,  yet,  for  all  his  learned  "  binnacle 
deviations,"  "  azimuth  compass  observations,"  and  "  approxi- 
mate errors,"  he  knows  very  well,  Captain  Sleet,  that  he  was 
not  so  much  immersed  in  those  profound  magnetic  meditations, 
as  to  fail  being  attracted  occasionally  towards  that  well  reple- 
nished little  case-bottle,  so  nicely  tucked  in  on  one  side  of  his 
crow's  nest,  within  easy  reach  of  his  hand.  Though,  upon  the 
whole,  I  greatly  admire  and  even  love  the  brave,  the  honest,  and 
learned  Captain ;  yet  I  take  it  very  ill  of  him  that  he  should 
so  utterly  ignore  that  case-bottle,  seeing  what  a  faithful  friend  and 
comforter  it  must  have  been,  while  with  mittened  fingers  and 
hooded  head  he  was  studying  the  mathematics  aloft  there  in 
that  bird's  nest  within  three  or  four  perches  of  the  pole. 

But  if  we  Southern  whale-fishers  are  not  so  snugly  housed 
aloft  as  Captain  Sleet  and  his  Greenland-men  were ;  yet  that 
disadvantage  is  greatly  counterbalanced  by  the  widely  contrast- 
ing serenity  of  those  seductive  seas  in  which  we  South  fishers 
mostly  float.  For  one,  I  used  to  lounge  up  the  rigging  very 
leisurely,  resting  in  the  top  to  have  a  chat  with  Queeqxieg,  or 
any  one  else  off  duty  whom  I  might  find  there ;  then  ascending 
a  little  way  further,  and  throwing  a  lazy  leg  over  the  top-sail 
yard,  take  a  preliminary  view  of  the  watery  pastures,  and  so  at 
last  mount  to  my  ultimate  destination. 

Let  me  make  a  clean  breast  of  it  here,  and  frankly  admit 
that  I  kept  but  sorry  guard.  With  the  problem  of  the 
universe  revolving  in  me,  how  could  I — being  left  completely  to 
myself  at  such  a  thought-engendering  altitude, — how  could  I 
but  lightly  hold  my  obligations  to  observe  all  whale-ships' 
standing  orders,  "  Keep  your  weather  eye  open,  and  sing  out 
every  time." 

And  let  me  in  this  place  movingly  admonish  you,  ye  ship- 
owners of  Nantucket!     Beware  of  enlisting  in   your  vigilant 


THE    MAST-HEAD.  175 

fisheries  any  lad  with  lean  brow  and  hollow  eye  ;  given  to  tin- 
seasonable  meditativeness ;  and  who  offers  to  ship  with  the 
Phsedon  instead  of  Bowditch  in  his  head.  Beware  of  such  an 
one,  I  say :  your  whales  must  be  seen  before  they  can  be  killed  ; 
and  this  sunken-eyed  young  Platonist  will  tow  you  ten 
wakes  round  the  world,  and  never  make  you  one  pint  of  sperm 
the  richer.  JSTor  are  these  monitions  at  all  unneeded.  For  now- 
adays, the  whale-fishery  furnishes  an  asylum  for  many 
romantic,  melancholy,  and  absent-minded  young  men,  disgusted 
with  the  carking  cares  of  earth,  and  seeking  sentiment  in  tar 
and  blubber.  Childe  Harold  not  unfrequently  perches  himself 
upon  the  mast-head  .of  some  luckless  disappointed  whale-ship, 
and  in  moody  phrase  ejaculates  : — 

"  Roll  on,  thou  deep  and  dark  blue  ocean,  roll ! 
Ten  thousand  blubber-hunters  sweep  over  thee  in  vain." 

Very  often  do  the  captains  of  such  ships  take  those  absent- 
minded  young  philosophers  to  task,  upbraiding  them  with  not 
feeling  sufficient  "  interest"  in  the  voyage ;  half-hinting  that 
they  are  so  hopelessly  lost  to'all  honorable  ambition,  as  that  in 
their  secret  souls  they  would  rather  not  see  whales  than  other- 
wise. But  all  in  vain  ;  those  young  Platonists  have;  a  notion 
that  their  vision  is  imperfect;  they  are  short-sighted*  what  use, 
then,  to  strain  the  visual  nerve  ?  They  have  left  their  opera- 
glasses  at  home. 

"  Why,  thou  monkey,"  said  a  harpooneer  to  one  of  these 
lads,  "  we've  been  cruising  now  hard  upon  three  years, 
and  thou  hast  not  raised  a  whale  yet.  Whales  are  scarce 
as  hen's  teeth  whenever  thou  art  up  here."  Perhaps  they 
were ;  or  perhaps  there  might  have  been  shoals  of  them  in  the 
far  horizon ;  but  lulled  into  such  an  opium-like  listl'essness  of 
vacant,  unconscious  reverie  is  this  absent-minded  youth  by  the 
blending  cadence  of  waves  with  thoughts,  that  at  last  he  loses 
his  identity ;   takes  the  mystic  ocean  at  his  feet  for  the  visible  ' 


176  THE    QUARTER-DECK. 

image  of  that  deep,  blue,  bottomless  soul,  pervading  mankind 
and  nature ;  and  every  strange,  half-seen,  gliding,  beautiful  thing 
that  eludes  him  ;  every  dimly-discovered,  uprising  fin  of  some 
undiscernible  form,  seems  to  him  the  embodiment  of  those 
elusive  thoughts  that  only  people  the  soul  by  continually  flitting 
through  it.  In  this  enchanted  mood,  thy  spirit  ebbs  away  to 
whence  it  came;  becomes  diffused  through  time  and  space; 
like  Cranmer's  sprinkled  Pantheistic  ashes,  forming  at  last 
a  part  of  every  shore  the  round  globe  over. 

There  is  no  life  in  thee,  now,  except  that  rocking  life  impart- 
ed by  a  gently  rolling  ship ;  by  her,  borrowed  from  the  sea ; 
by  the  sea,  from  the  inscrutable  tides  of  God.  But  while  this 
sleep,  this  dream  is  on  ye,  move  your  foot  or  hand  an  inch  ; 
slip  your  hold  at  all ;  and  your  identity  comes  back  in  horror. 
Over  Descartian  vortices  you  hover.  And  perhaps,  at  mid-day, 
in  the  fairest  weather,  with  one  half-throttled  shriek  you  drop 
through  that  transparent  air  into  the  summer  sea,  no  more  to 
rise  for  ever.    Heed  it  well,  ye  Pantheists ! 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

THE    QUARTER-DECK. 
(Enter  Ahdb :  Then,  all.) 

It  was  not  a  great  while  after  the  affair  of  the  pipe,  that  one 
morning  shortly  after  breakfast,  Ahab,  as  was  his  wont,  ascended 
the  cabin-gangway  to  the  deck.  There  most  sea-captains  usually 
walk  at  that  hour,  as  country  gentlemen,  after  the  same  meal, 
take  a  few  turns  in  the  garden. 

Soon  his  steady,  ivory  stride  was  heard,  as  to  and  fro  he  paced 
his  old  rounds,  upon  planks  so  familiar  to  his  tread,  that  they 
were  all  over  dented,  like  geological  stones,  with  the  peculiar 


THE    QUARTER-DECK.  177 

mark  of  his  walk.  Did  you  fixedly  gaze,  too,  upon  that  ribbed 
and  dented  brow ;  there  also,  you  would  see  still  stranger  foot- 
prints— the  foot-prints  of  his  one  unsleeping,  ever-pacing  thought. 

But  on  the  occasion  in  question,  those  dents  looked  deeper,  even 
as  his  nervous  step  that  morning  left  a  deeper  mark.  And,  so 
full  of  his  thought  was  Ahab,  that  at  every  uniform  turn  that 
he  made,  now  at  the  main-mast  and  now  at  the  binnacle,  you 
could  almost  see  that  thought  turn  in  him  as  he  turned,  and 
pace  in  him  as  he  paced ;  so  completely  possessing  him,  indeed, 
that  it  all  but  seemed  the  inward  mould  of  every  outer  move- 
ment. ^ 

"  D'ye  mark  him,  Flask  ?"  whispered  Stubb ;  "  the  chick 
that's  in  him  pecks  the  shell.     T'will  soon  be  out." 

The  hours  wore  on  ; — Ahab  now  shut  up  within  his  cabin ; 
anon,  pacing  the  deck,  with  the  same  intense  bigotry  of  purpose 
in  his  aspect. 

It  drew  near  the  close  of  day.  Suddenly  he  came  to  a  halt 
by  the  bulwarks,  and  inserting  his  bone  leg  into  the  auger-hole 
there,  and  with  one  hand  grasping  a  shroud,  he  ordered  Star- 
buck  to  send  everybody  aft. 

"  Sir !"  said  the  mate,  astonished  at  an  order  seldom  or  never 
given  on  ship-board  except  in  some  extraordinary  case. 

"  Send  everybody  aft,"  repeated  Ahab.  "  Mast-heads,  there ! 
come  down !" 

When  the  entire  ship's  company  were  assembled,  and  with 
curious  arid  not  wholly  unapprehensive  faces,  were  eyeing  him, 
for  he  looked  not  unlike  the  weather  horizon  when  a  storm  is 
coming  up,  Ahab,  after  rapidly  glancing  over  the  bulwarks, 
and  then  darting  his  eyes  among  the  crew,  started  from  his  stand- 
point ;  and  as  though  not  a  soul  were  nigh  him  resumed  his 
heavy  turns  upon  the  deck.  With  bent  head  and  half-slouched 
hat  he  continued  to  pace,  unmindful  of  the  wondering  whisper- 
ing among  the  men ;  till  Stubb  cautiously  whispered  to  Flask, 
that  Ahab  must  have  summoned  them  there  for  the  purpose  of 


178  THE    QUARTER-DECK. 

witnessing  a  pedestrian  feat.     But  this  did  not  last  long.     Ve- 
hemently pausing,  he  cried : — 

"  What  do  ye  do  when  ye  see  a  whale,  men  ?" 

"  Sing  out  for  him !"  was  the  impulsive  rejoinder  from  a  score 
of  clubbed  voices. 

"  Good  !"  cried  Ahab,  with  a  wild  approval  in  his  tones ;  ob- 
serving the  hearty  animation  into  which  his  unexpected  question 
had  so  magnetically  thrown  them. 

"  And  what  do  ye  next,  men  ?" 

"  Lower  away,  and  after  him !" 

"  And  what  tune  is  it  ye  pull  to,  men  ?" 

"A  dead  whale  or  a  stove  boat !". 

More  and  more  strangely  and  fiercely  glad  and  approving, 
grew  the  countenance  of  the  old  man  at  every  shout ;  while  the 
mariners  began  to  gaze  curiously  at  each  other,  as  if  marvelling 
how  it  was  that  they  themselves  became  so  excited  at  such 
seemingly  purposeless  questions. 

But,  they  were  all  eagerness  again,  as  Ahab,  now  half-revolv- 
ing in  his  pivot-hole,  with  one  hand  reaching  high  up  a  shroud, 
and  tightly,  almost  convulsively  grasping  it,  addressed  them 
thus : — 

"  All  ye  mast-headers  have  before  now  heard  me  give  orders 
about  a  white  whale.  Look  ye !  d'ye  see  this  Spanish  ounce 
of  gold  ?"— holding  up  a  broad  bright  coin  to  the  sun — "  it  is 
a  sixteen  dollar  piece,  men.  D'ye  see  it  ?  Mr.  Starbuck,  hand 
me  yon  top-maul." 

While  the  mate  was  getting  the  hammer,  Ahab,  without 
speaking,  was  slowly  rubbing  the  gold  piece  against  the  skirts 
of  his  jacket,  as  if  to  heighten  its  lustre,  and  without  using  any 
words  was  meanwhile  lowly  humming  to  himself,  producing  a 
sound  so  strangely  muffled  and  inarticulate  that  it  seemed  the 
mechanical  humming  of  the  wheels  of  his  vitality  in  him. 

Receiving  the  top-maul  from  Starbuck,  he  advanced  towards 
the  main-mast  with   the  hammer  uplifted    in  one   hand,  ex- 


THE    QUARTER-DECK.  179 

hibiting  the  gold  with  the  other,  and  with  a  high  raised  voice 
exclaiming  :  "  Whosoever  of  ye  raises  me  a  white-headed  whale 
with  a  wrinkled  brow  and  a  crooked  jaw ;  whosoever  of  ye 
raises  me  that  white-headed  whale,  with  three  holes  punctured  in 
his  starboard  fluke — look  ye,  whosoever  of  ye  raises  me  that 
same  white  whale,  he  shall  have  this  gold  ounce,  my  boys  !" 

"  Huzza !  huzza !"  cried  the  seamen,  as  with  swinging  tar- 
paulins they  hailed  the  act  of  nailing  the  gold  to  the  mast. 

"  It's  a  white  whale,  I  say,"  resumed  Ahab,  as  he  threw  down 
the  top-maul ;  "  a  white  whale.  Skin  your  eyes  for  him,  men  ; 
look  sharp  for  white  water ;  if  ye  see  but  a  bubble,  sing  out." 

All  this  while  Tashtego,  Daggoo,  and  Queequeg  had  looked 
on  with  even  more  intense  interest  and  surprise  than  the  rest, 
and  at  the  mention  of  the  wrinkled  brow  and  crooked  jaw  they 
had  started  as  if  each  was  separately  touched  by.  some  specific 
recollection. 

"  Captain  Ahab,"  said  Tashtego,  "  that  white  whale  must  be 
the  same  that  some  call  Moby  Dick.'" 

"  Moby  Dick  ?"  shouted  Ahab.  "  Do  ye  know  the  white 
whale  then,  Tash  ?" 

"  Does  he  fan-tail  a  little  curious,  sir,  before  he  goes  down  ?" 
said  the  Gay-Header  deliberately. 

"  And  has  he  a  curious  spout,  too,"  said  Daggoo,  "  very 
bushy,  even  for  a  parmacetty,  and  mighty  quick,  Captain 
Ahab?" 

"  And  he  have  one,  two,  tree — oh  !  good  many  iron  in  him 
hide,  too,  Captain,"  cried  Queequeg  disjointedly,  "  all  twiske- 
tee  be-twisk,  like  him — him — "  faltering  hard  for  a  word,  and 
screwing  his  hand  round  and  rourd  as  though  uncorking  a  bot- 
tle— "  like  him — him — " 

"  Corkscrew !"  cried  Ahab,  "  aye,  Queequeg,  the  harpoons  he 
all  twisted  and  wrenched  in  him  ;  aye,  Daggoo,  his  spout  is  a 
big  one,  like  a  whole  shock  of  wheat,  and  white  as  a  pile  of  our 
Nantucket   wool  after  the  great  annual  sheep-shearing;  aye, 


180  THE    QUARTER-DECK. 

Taslitego,  and  he  fan-tails  like  a  split  jib  in  a  squall.  Death 
and  devils  !  men,  it  is  Moby  Dick  ye  have  seen — Moby  Dick 
—Moby  Dick!" 

"  Captain  Ahab,"  said  Starbuck,  who,  with  Stubb  and  Flask, 
had  thus  far  been  eyeing  his  superior  with  increasing  sur- 
prise, but  at  last  seemed  struck  with  a  thought  which  somewhat 
explained  all  the  wonder.  "  Captain  Ahab,  I  have  heard  of 
Moby  Dick — but  it  was  not  Moby  Dick  that  took  off  thy  leg  ?" 

"  Who  told  thee  that  ?"  cried  Ahab ;  then  pausing,  "Aye, 
Starbuck  ;  aye,  my  hearties  all  round  ;  it  was  Moby  Dick  tha 
dismasted  me  ;  Moby  Dick  that  brought  me  to  this  dead  stump 
I  stand  on  now.  Aye,  aye,"  he  shouted  with  a  terrific,  loud,  ani- 
mal sob,  like  that  of  a  heart-stricken  moose  ;  "  Aye,  aye  !  it  was 
that  accursed  white  whale  that  razeed  me ;  made  a  poor  pegging 
lubber  of  me  for  ever  and  a  day !"  Then  tossing  both  arms,  with 
measureless  imprecations  he  shouted  out :  "  Aye,  aye  !  and  I'll 
chase  him  round  Good  Hope,  and  round  the  Horn,  and  round 
the  Norway  Maelstrom,  and  round  perdition's  flames  before  I 
give  him  up.  And  this  is  what  ye  have  shipped  for,  men !  to 
chase  that  white  whale  on  both  sides  of  land,  and  over  all  sides 
of  earth,  till  he  spouts  black  blood  and  rolls  fin  out.  What  say 
ye,  men,  will  ye  splice  hands  on  it,  now  ?  I  think  ye  do  look 
brave." 

"  Aye,  aye !"  shouted  the  harpooneers  and  seamen,  running 
closer  to  the  excited  old  man :  "  A  sharp  eye  for  the  White 
Whale ;  a  sharp  lance  for  Moby  Dick !" 

"  God  bless  ye,"  he  seemed  to  half  sob  and  half  shout. 
"  God  bless  ye,  men.  Steward  !  go  draw  the  great  measure  of 
grog.  But  what's  this  long  face  about,  Mr.  Starbuck ;  wilt 
thou  not  chase  the  white  whale  ?  art  not  game  for  Moby 
Dick  ?" 

"  I  am  game  for  his  crooked  jaw,  and  for  the  jaws  of  Death 
too,  Captain  Ahab,  if  it  fairly  comes  in  the  way  of  the  business 
we  follow ;  but  I  came  here  to  hunt  whales,  not  my  command- 


THE    QUARTER-DECK.  181 

er's  vengeance.  How  many  barrels  will  thy  vengeance  yield 
thee  even  if  thou  gettest  it,  Captain  Ahab  ?  it  will  not  fetch  thee 
much  in  our  Nantucket  market." 

"  Nantucket  market !  Hoot !  But  come  closer,  Starbuck  ; 
thou  requirest  a  little  lower  layer.  If  money's  to  be  the 
measurer,  man,  and  the  accountants  have  computed  their  great 
counting-house  the  globe,  by  girdling  it  with  guineas,  one  to 
every  three  parts  of  an  inch ;  then,  let  me  tell  thee,  that  my 
vengeance  will  fetch  a  great  premium  here  /" 

"  He  smites  his  chest,"  whispered  Stubb,  "  what's  that  for  ? 
methinks  it  rings  most  vast,  but  hollow." 

"  Vengeance  on  a  dumb  brute  !"  cried  Starbuck,  "  that  simply 
smote  thee  from  blindest  instinct !  Madness  !  To  be  enraged 
with  a  dumb  thing,  Captain  Ahab,  seems  blasphemous." 

"  Hark  ye  yet  again, — the  little  lower  layer.  All  visible  ob- 
jects, man,  are  but  as  pasteboard  masks.  But  in  each  event — 
in  the  living  act,  the  undoubted  deed — there,  some  unknown 
but  still  reasoning  thing  puts  forth  the  mouldings'  of  its  features 
from  behind  the  unreasoning  mask.  If  man  will  strike,  strike 
through  the  mask !  How  can  the  prisoner  reach  outside  except 
by  thrusting  through  the  wall  ?  To  me,  the  white  whale  is 
that  wall,  shoved  near  to  me.  Sometimes  I  think  there's 
naught  beyond.  But  'tis  enough.  He  tasks  me  ;  he  heaps  me ; 
I  see  in  him  outrageous  strength,  with  an  inscrutable  malice 
sinewing  it.  That  inscrutable  thing  is  chiefly  what  I  hate ;  and 
be  the  white  whale  agent,  or  be  the  white  whale  principal,  I  will 
wreak  that  hate  upon  him.  Talk  not  to  me  of  blasphemy, 
man ;  I'd  strike  the  sun  if  it  insulted  me.  For  could  the  sun  do 
that,  then  could  I  do  the  other  ;  since  there  is  ever  a  sort  of  fair 
play  herein,  jealousy  presiding  over  all  creations.  But  not  my 
master,  man,  is  even  that  fair  play.  Who's  over  me  ?  Truth 
hath  no  confines.  Take  off  thine  eye !  more  intolerable  than 
fiends'  glarings  is  a  doltish  stare  !  So,  so ;  thou  reddenest  and 
palest ;  my  heat  has  melted  thee  to  anger-gloAV.     But  look  ye, 


182  THE    QUARTER-DECK. 

Starbuck,  what  is  said  in  heat,  that  thing  unsays  itself.  There 
are  men  from  whom  warm  words  are  small  indignity.  I  meant 
not  to  incense  thee.  Let  it  go.  Look !  see  yonder  Turkish 
cheeks  of  spotted  tawn — living,  breathing  pictures  painted  by 
the  sun.  The  Pagan  leopards — the  unrecking  and  unwor- 
shipping  things,  that  live ;  and  seek,  and  give  no  reasons  for  the 
torrid  life  they  feel!  The  crew,  man,  the  crew!  Are  they 
not  one  and  all  with  Ahab,  in  this  matter  of  the  whale  ?  See 
Stubb !  he  laughs !  See  yonder  Chilian  !  he  snorts  to  think  of  it. 
Stand  up  amid  the  general  hurricane,  thy  one  tost  sapling  can- 
not, Starbuck !  And  what  is  it  ?  Reckon  it.  'Tis  but  to  help 
strike  a  fin ;  no  wondrous  feat  for  Starbuck.  What  is  it  more  ? 
From  this  one  poor  hunt,  then,  the  best  lance  out  of  all 
Nantucket,  surely  he  will  not  hang  back,  when  every  foremast- 
hand  has  clutched  a  whetstone  ?  Ah  !  constrainings  seize  thee ; 
I  see  !  the  billow  lifts  thee  !  Speak,  but  speak  ! — Aye,  aye  !  thy 
silence,  then,  that  voices  thee.  {Aside)  Something  shot  from 
my  dilated  nostrils,  he  has  inhaled  it  in  his  lungs.  Starbuck 
now  is  mine  ;  cannot  oppose  me  now,  without  rebellion." 

"  God  keep  me ! — keep  us  all !"  murmured  Starbuck,  lowly. 

But  in  his  joy  at  the  enchanted,  tacit  acquiescence  of  the 
mate,  Ahab  did  not  hear  his  foreboding  invocation  ;  nor  yet  the 
low  laugh  from  the  hold  ;  nor  yet  the  presaging  vibrations  of 
the  winds  in  the  cordage ;  nor  yet  the  hollow  flap  of  the  sails 
against  the  masts,  as  for  a  moment  their  hearts  sank  in.  For 
again  Starbuck's  downcast  eyes  lighted  up  with  the  stubbornness 
of  life ;  the  subterranean  laugh  died  away  ;  the  winds  blew  on ; 
the  sails  filled  out ;  the  ship  heaved  and  rolled  as  before.  Ah, 
ye  admonitions  and  warnings  !  why  stay  ye  not  when  ye  come  ? 
But  rather  are  ye  predictions  than  warnings,  ye  shadows !  Yet 
not  so  much  predictions  from  without,  as  verifications  of  the 
foregoing  things  within.  For  with  little  external  to  constrain 
us,  the  innermost  necessities  in  our  being,  these  still  drive  us  on. 

"  The  measure  !  the  measure  !"  cried  Ahab. 


THE    QUARTER-DECK.  183 

Receiving  the  brimming  pewter,  and  turning  to  the  har- 
pooneers,  he  ordered  them  to  produce  their  weapons.  Then 
ranging  them  before  him  near  the  capstan,  with  their  harpoons 
in  their  hands,  while  his  three  mates  stood  at  his  side  with  their 
lances,  and  the  rest  of  the  ship's  company  formed  a  circle  round 
the  group;  he  stood  for  an  instant  searchingly  eyeing  every 
man  of  his  crew.  But  those  wild  eyes  met  his,  as  the  bloodshot 
eyes  of  the  prairie  wolves  meet  the  eye  of  their  leader,  ere  he 
rushes  on  at  their  head  in  the  trail  of  the  bison ;  but,  alas  ! 
only  to  fall  into  the  hidden  snare  of  the  Indian. 

"  Drink  and  pass !"  he  cried,  handing  the  heavy  charged 
flagon  to  the  nearest  seaman.  "  The  crew  alone  now  drink. 
Round  with  it,  round !  Short  draughts — long  swallows,  men ; 
'tis  hot  as  Satan's  hoof.  So,  so ;  it  goes  round  excellently.  It 
spiralizes  in  ye ;  forks  out  at  the  serpent-snapping  eye.  Well 
done ;  almost  drained.  That  way  it  went,  this  way  it  comes. 
Hand  it  me — here's  a  hollow !  Men,  ye  seem  the  years ;  so 
brimming  life  is  gulped  and  gone.     Steward,  refill ! 

"  Attend  now,  my  braves.  I  have  mustered  ye  all  round  this 
capstan ;  and  ye  mates,  flank  me  with  your  lances  ;  and  ye 
harpooneers,  stand  there  with  your  irons ;  and  ye,  stout  mari- 
ners, ring  me  in,  that  I  may  in  some  sort  revive  a  noble  custom 
of  my  fisherman  fathers  before  me.     O  men,  you  will  yet  see 

that Ha  !  boy,  come  back  ?  bad  pennies  come  not  sooner. 

Hand  it  me.     Why,  now,  this  pewter  had  run  brimming  again, 
wer't  not  thou  St.  Vitus'  imp — away,  thou  ague ! 

"Advance,  ye  mates  !  Cross  your  lances  full  before  me. 
Well  done !  Let  me  touch  the  axis."  So  saying,  with  extended 
arm,  he  grasped  the  three  level,  radiating  lances  at  their  crossed 
centre ;  while  so  doing,  suddenly  and  nervously  twitched  them ; 
meanwhile,  glancing  intently  from  Starbuck  to  Stubb ;  from 
Stubb  to  Flask.  It  seemed  as  though,  by  some  nameless, 
interior  volition,  he  would  fain  have  shocked  into  them  the  same 
fiery  emotion  accumulated  within  the  Leyden  jar  of  his  own 


184  THE    QUARTER-DECK. 

magnetic  life.  The  three  mates  quailed  before  his  strong,  sus- 
tained, and  mystic  aspect.  Stubb  and  Flask  looked  sideways 
from  him ;  the  honest  eye  of  Starbuck  fell  downright. 

"  In  vain  !"  cried  Ahab ;  "  but,  maybe,  'tis  well.  For  did  ye 
three  but  once  take  the  full-forced  shock,  then  mine  own  electric 
thing,  that  had  perhaps  expired  from  out  me.  Perchance,  too, 
it  would  have  dropped  ye  dead.  Perchance  ye  need  it  not. 
Down  lances !  And  now,  ye  mates,  I  do  appoint  ye  three  cup- 
bearers to  my  three  pagan  kinsmen  there — yon  three  most 
honorable  gentlemen  and  noblemen,  my  valiant  harpooneers. 
Disdain  the  task  ?  What,  when  the  great  Pope  washes  the  feet 
of  beggars,  using  his  tiara  for  ewer  ?  Oh,  my  sweet  cardinals ! 
your  own  condescension,  that  shall  bend  ye  to  it.  I  do  not 
order  ye ;  ye  will  it.  Cut  your  seizings  and  draw  the  poles,  ye 
harpooneers !'' 

Silently  obeying  the  order,  the  three  harpooneers  now  stood 
with  the  detached  iron  part  of  their  harpoons,  some  three  feet 
long,  held,  barbs  up,  before  him. 

"  Stab  me  not  with  that  keen  steel !  Cant  them ;  cant  them 
over !  know  ye  not  the  goblet  end  ?  Turn  up  the  socket !  So, 
so ;  now,  ye  cup-bearers,  advance.  The  irons !  take  them ;  hold 
them  while  I  fill !"  Forthwith,  slowly  going  from  one  officer 
to  the  other,  he  brimmed  the  harpoon  sockets  with  the  fiery 
waters  from  the  pewter. 

"Now,  three  to  three,  ye  stand.  Commend  the  murderous 
chalices  !  Bestow  them,  ye  who  are  now  made  parties  to  this 
indissoluble  league.  Ha !  Starbuck !  but  the  deed  is  done ! 
Yon  ratifying  sun  now  waits  to  sit  upon  it.  Drink,  ye  har- 
pooneers !  drink  and  swear,  ye  men  that  man  the  deathful 
whaleboat's  bow — Death  to  Moby  Dick  !  God  hunt  us  all,  if 
we  do  not  hunt  Moby  Dick  to  his  death  !"  The  long,  barbed 
steel  goblets  were  lifted  ;  and  to  cries  and  maledictions  against 
the  white  whale,  the  spirits  were  simultaneously  quaffed  down 
with  a  hiss.     Starbuck  paled,  and  turned,  and  shivered.     Once 


SUNSET.  185 


more,  and  finally,  the  replenished  pewter  went  the  rounds 
among  the  frantic  crew  ;  when,  waving  his  free  hand  to  them, 
they  all  dispersed ;  and  Ahab  retired  within  his  cabin. 


.       CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

SUNSET. 

The  cabin ;  by  the  stern  windows ;  Ahab  sitting   alone,   and 
gazing  out. 

I  leave  a  white  and  turbid  wake  ;  pale  waters,  paler  cheeks, 
where'er  I  sail.  The  envious  billows  sidelong  swell  to  whelm 
my  track ;  let  them ;  but  first  I  pass. 

Yonder,  by  the  ever-brimming  goblet's  rim,  the  warm  waves 
blush  like  wine.  The  gold  brow  plumbs  the  blue.  The  diver 
sun — slow  dived  from  noon, — goes  down ;  my  soul  mounts  up ! 
she  wearies  with  her  endless  hill.  Is,  then,  the  crown  too 
heavy  that  I  wear  ?  this  Iron  Crown  of  Lombardy.  Yet  is  it 
bright  with  many  a  gem ;  I,  the  wearer,  see  not  its  far  flash- 
ings ;  but  darkly  feel  that  I  wear  that,  that  dazzlingly  con- 
founds. 'Tis  iron — that  I  know — not  gold.  'Tis  split,  too — 
that  I  feel ;  the  jagged  edge  galls  me  so,  my  brain  seems  to 
beat  against  the  solid  metal ;  aye,  steel  skull,  mine ;  the  sort 
that  needs  no  helmet  in  the  most  brain-battering  fight ! 

Dry  heat  upon  my  brow  ?  Oh !  time  was,  when  as  the 
sunrise  nobly  spurred  me,  so  the  sunset  soothed.  No  more. 
This  lovely  light,  it  lights  not  me ;  all  loveliness  is  anguish  to 
me,  since  I  can  ne'er  enjoy.  Gifted  with  the  high  perception,  I 
lack  the  low,  enjoying  power ;  damned,  most  subtly  and 
most  malignantly  !  damned  in  the  midst  of  Paradise  !  Good 
night — good  night !  (waving  his  hand,  he  moves  from  the 
window.) 


186  DUSK. 

'Twas  not  so  hard  a  task.  I  thought  to  find  one  stuhborn,  at 
the  least ;  but  my  one  cogged  circle  fits  into  all  their  various 
wheels,  and  they  revolve.  Or,  if  you  will,  like  so  many  ant-hills 
of  powder,  they  all  stand  before  me ;  and  I  their  match.  Oh, 
hard !  that  to  fire  others,  the  match  itself  must  needs  be 
wasting !  What  I've  dared,  I've  willed  ;  and  what  I've  willed, 
I'll  do!  They  think  me  mad — Starbuck  does;  but  I'm 
demoniac,  I  am  madness  maddened !  That  wild  madness  that's 
only  calm  to  comprehend  itself !  The  prophecy  was  that  I 
should  be  dismembered ;  and — Aye !  I  lost  this  leg.  I  now 
prophesy  that  I  will  dismember  my  dismemberer.  Now,  then, 
be  the  prophet  and  the  fulfiller  one.  That's  more  than  ye,  ye 
great  gods,  ever  were.  I  laugh  and  hoot  at  ye,  ye  cricket- 
players,  ye  pugilists,  ye  deaf  Burkes  and  blinded  Bendigoes ! 
I  will  not  say  as  schoolboys  do  to  bullies, — Take  some  one  of 
your  own  size ;  don't  pommel  me /  No,  ye've  knocked  me 
down,  and  I  am  up  again ;  but  ye  have  run  and  hidden.  Come 
forth  from  behind  your  cotton  bags !  I  have  no  long  gun  to 
reach  ye.  Come,  Ahab's  compliments  to  ye ;  come  and  see  if 
ye  can  swerve  me.  Swerve  me  ?  ye  cannot  swerve  me,  else  ye 
swerve  yourselves !  man  has  ye  there.  Swerve  me  ?  The  path 
to  my  fixed  purpose  is  laid  with  iron  rails,  whereon  my  soul  is 
grooved  to  run.  Over  unsounded  gorges,  through  the  rifled 
hearts  of  mountains,  under  torrents'  beds,  unerringly  I  rush! 
Naught's  an  obstacle,  naught's  an  angle  to  the  iron  way  I 


CHAPTER  XXXVm.       ••         .    • 

DUSK. 

By  the  Mainmast ;  Starbuck  leaning  against.it:- 

My  soul  is  more  than  matched-;    she's  overmanned;  and  by 
a  madman  !  Insufferable  sting,  that  sanity  should  ground  arms 


DUSK.  187 

on  such  a  field !  But  he  drilled  deep  down,  and  blasted  all  my 
reason  out  of  me  !  I  think  I  see  his  impious  end  ;  but  feel  that 
I  must  help  him  to  it.  "Will  I,  nill  I,  the  ineffable  thing  has 
tied  me  to  him  ;  tows  me  with  a  cable  I  have  no  knife  to  cut. 
Horrible  old  man  !  Who's  over  him,  he  cries  ; — aye,  he  would 
be  a  democrat  to  all  above ;  look,  how  he  lords  it  over  all  below  ! 
Oh  !  I  plainly  see  my  miserable  office, — to  obey,  rebelling  ;  and 
worse  yet,  to  hate  with  touch  of  pity  !  For  in  his  eyes  I  read 
some  lurid  woe  would  shrivel  me  up,  had  I  it.  Yet  is  there 
hope.  Time  and  tide  flow  wide.  The  hated  whale  has  the 
round  watery  world  to  swim  in,  as  the  small  gold-fish  has  its 
glassy  globe.  His  heaven-insulting  purpose,  God  may  wedge 
aside.  I  would  up  heart,  were  it  not  like  lead.  But  my  whole 
clock's  run  down ;  my  heart  the  all-controlling  weight,  I  have  no 
key  to  lift  again. 

[A  burst  of  revelry  from  the  forecastle. 

Oh,  God !  to  sail  with  such  a  heathen  crew  that  have  small 
touch  of  human  mothers  in  them !  Whelped  somewhere  by  the 
sharkish  sea.  The  white  whale  is  their  demigorgon.  Hark  ! 
the  infernal  orgies  !  that  revelry  is  forward  !  mark  the  unfalter- 
ing silence  aft !  Methinks  it  pictures  life.  Foremost  through  the 
sparkling  sea  shoots  on  the  gay,  embattled,  bantering  bow,  but 
only  to  drag  dark  Ahab  after  it,  where  he  broods  within  his 
sternward  cabin,  builded  over  the  dead  water  of  the  wake,  and 
further  on,  hunted  by  its  wolfish  gurglings.  The  long  howl 
thrills  me  through !  Peace !  ye  revellers,  and  set  the  watch ! 
Oh,  life  !  'tis  in  an  hour  like  this,  with  soul  beat  down  and  held 
to  knowledge, — as  wild,  untutored  things  are  forced  to  feed — Oh, 
life  !  'tis  now  that  I  do  feel  the  latent  horror  in  thee !  but  'tis  not  me ! 
that  horror's  out  of  me !  and  with  the  soft  feeling  of  the  human 
in  me,  yet  will  I  tiy  to  fight  ye,  ye  grim,  phantom  futures ! 
Stand  by  me,  hold  me,  bind  me,  0  ye  blessed  influences ! 


188  FIRST    NIGHT-WATCH. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

FIRST  NIGHT-WATCH. 
F0KE-T0P. 

(Stubb  solus,  and  mending  a  brace.) 
Ha  !  ha !  ha !  ha  !  hem !  clear  my  throat ! — I've  been  think- 
ing over  it  ever  since,  and  that  ha,  ha's  the  final  consequence. 
Why  so  ?  Because  a  laugh's  the  wisest,  easiest  answer  to  all 
that's  queer ;  and  come  what  will,  one  comfort's  always  left — 
that  unfailing  comfort  is,  it's  all  predestinated.  I  heard  not  all 
his  talk  with  Starbuck ;  but  to  my  poor  eye  Starbuck  then 
looked  something  as  I  the  other  evening  felt.  Be  sure  the  old 
Mogul  has  fixed  him,  too.  I  twigged  it,  knew  it ;  had  had  the 
gift,  might  readily  have  prophesied  it — for  when  I  clapped  my 
eye  upon  his  skull  I  saw  it.  Well,  Stubb,  wise  Stubb — that's 
my  title — well,  Stubb,  what  of  it,  Stubb  ?  Here's  a  carcase.  I 
know  not  all  that  may  be  coming,  but  be  it  what  it  will,  I'll  go 
to  it  laughing.  Such  a  waggish  leering  as  lurks  in  all  your 
horribles !  I  feel  funny.  Fa,  la !  lirra,  skirra !  What's  my 
juicy  little  pear  at  home  doing  now  ?  Crying  its  eyes  out  ? — 
Giving  a  party  to  the  last  arrived  harpooneers,  I  dare  say, 
gay  as  a  frigate's  pennant,  and  so  am  I — fa,  la !  lirra,  skirra ! 

Oh— 

We'll  drink  to-night  with  hearts  as  light, 

To  love,  as  gay  and  fleeting 
As  bubbles  that  swim,  on  the  beaker's  brim, 

And  break  on  the  lips  while  meeting. 

A  brave  stave  that — who  calls  ?  Mr.  Starbuck  ?  Aye,  aye, 
sir — (Aside)  he's  my  superior ,  he  has  his  too,  if  I'm  not  mistaken. 
— Aye,  aye,  sir,  just  through  with  this  job — coming. 


MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE.  189 


CHAPTER  XL. 

MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE. 
HARPOONEERS  AND  SAILORS. 

(Foresail  rises  and  discovers  the  watch  standing,  lounging, 
leaning,  and  lying  in  various  attitudes,  all  singing  in  chorus.) 

Farewell  and  adieu  to  you,  Spanish  ladies ! 
Farewell  and  adieu  to  you,  ladies  of  Spain ! 
Our  captain's  commanded. — 

1ST  NANTUCKET  SAILOR. 

Oh,  boys,  don't  be  sentimental ;  it's  bad  for  the  digestion ! 
Take  a  tonic,  follow  me ! 

(Sings,  and  all  follow.) 
Our  captain  stood  upon  the  deck, 

A  spy-glass  in  his  hand, 
A  viewing  of  those  gallant  whales 

That  blew  at  every  strand. 
Oh,  your  tubs  in  your  boats,  my  boys, 

And  by  your  braces  stand, 
And  we'll  have  one  of  those  fine  whales, 
Hand,  boys,  over  hand ! 
So,  be  cheery,  my  lads  !  may  your  hearts  never  fail ! 
While  the  bold  harpooneer  is  striking  the  whale ! 

mate's  voice  from  the  quarter-deck. 
Eight  bells  there,  forward ! 

2d    NANTUCKET    SAILOR. 

Avast  the  chorus!  Eight  bells  there  !  d'ye  hear,  bell-boy? 
Strike  the  bell  eight,  thou  Pip !  thou  blackling !  and  let  me  call 
the  watch.  I've  the  sort  of  mouth  for  that — the  hogshead 
mouth.  So,  so,  (thrusts  his  head  down  the  scuttle,)  Star — bo- 
1-  o  o  n-s,  a-h-o-y !    Eight  bells  there  below !    Tumble  up  ! 


190  MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE. 

DUTCH    SAILOR. 

Grand  snoozing  to-night,  maty ;  fat  night  for  that.  I  mark 
this  in  our  old  Mogul's  wine ;  it's  quite  as  deadening  to  some 
as  filliping  to  others.  "We  sing ;  they  sleep — aye,  lie  down 
there,  like  ground-tier  butts.  At  'em  again !  There,  take  this 
copper-pump,  and  hail  'em  through  it.  Tell  'em  to  avast 
dreaming  of  their  lasses.  Tell  'em  it's  the  resurrection  ;  they 
must  kiss  their  last,  and  come  to  judgment.  That's  the  way — 
that's  it ;  thy  throat  ain't  spoiled  with  eating  Amsterdam 
butter. 

FRENCH  SAILOR. 

Hist,  boys  !  let's  have  a  jig  or  two  before  we  ride  to  anchor  in 
Blanket  Bay.  What  say  ye  ?  There  comes  the  other  watch. 
Stand  by  all  legs !  Pip !  little  Pip !  hurrah  with  your  tam- 
bourine ! 

pip. 
(Sulky  and  sleepy!) 
Don't  know  where  it  is. 

FRENCH  SAILOR. 

Beat  thy  belly,  then,  and  wag  thy  ears.  Jig  it,  men,  I  say  ; 
merry's  the  word ;  hurrah !  Damn  me,  won't  you  dance  ? 
Form,  now,  Indian-file,  and  gallop  into  the  double-shuffle? 
Throw  yourselves  !     Legs  !  legs ! 

ICELAND  SAILOR. 

I  don't  like  your  floor,  maty ;  it's  too  springy  to  my  taste. 
I'm  used  to  ice-floors.  I'm  sorry  to  throw  cold  water  on  the 
subject ;  but  excuse  me. 

MALTESE  SAILOR. 

Me  too ;  where's  your  girls  ?  Who  but  a  fool  would  take  his 
left  hand  by  his  right,  and  say  to  himself,  how  d'ye  do  ?  Part- 
ners !  I  must  have  partners  ! 


MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE.  191 

SICILIAN  SAILOR. 

Aye  ;  girls  and  a  green ! — then  I'll  hop  with  ye ;  yea,  turn 
grasshopper ! 

LONG-ISLAND  SAILOR. 

Well,  -well,  ye  sulkies,  there's  plenty  more  of  us.  Hoe  corn 
when  you  may,  say  I.  All  legs  go  to  harvest  soon.  Ah !  here 
come's  the  music ;  now  for  it ! 

AZORE  SAILOR. 

(Ascending,  and  pitching  the  tambourine  up  the  scuttle!) 
Here  you  are,  Pip ;  and  there's  the  windlass-bitts ;  up  you 
mount !     Now,  boys  ! 

{The  half  of  them  dance  to  the  tambourine  ;  some  go  below  ; 
some  sleep  or  lie  among  the  coils  of  rigging.  Oaths  a- 
plenty.y 

AZORE    SAILOR. 

(Dancing!) 
Go  it,  Pip !  Bang  it,  bell-boy !     Rig  it,  dig  it,  stig  it,  quig  it, 
bell-boy  !     Make  fire-flies  ;  break  the  jinglers  ! 

pip. 
Jinglers,  you  say  ? — there  goes  another,  dropped  off ;  I  pound 
it  so. 

CHINA  SAILOR. 

Rattle  thy  teeth,  then,  and  pound  away  ;  make  a  pagoda  of 
thyself. 

FRENCH  SAILOR. 

Merry-mad !  Hold  up  thy  hoop,  Pip,  till  I  jump  through 
it !     Split  jibs !  tear  yourselves ! 

TASHTEGO. 

(Quietly  smoking!) 
That's  a  white  man ;  he  calls  that  fun :  humph !  I  save  my 
sweat. 


192  MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE. 

OLD  MANX  SAILOB. 

I  wonder  whether  those  jolly  lads  bethink  them  of  what  they 
are  dancing  over.  I'll  dance  over  your  grave,  I  will — that's 
the  Htterest  threat  of  your  night-women,  that  beat  head-winds 
round  corners.  O  Christ !  to  think  of  the  green  navies  and  the 
green-skulled  crews !  Well,  well ;  belike  the  whole  world's  a 
ball,  as  you  scholars  have  it ;  and  so  'tis  right  to  make  one 
ball-room  of  it.     Dance  on,  lads,  you're  young ;  I  was  once. 

3D    NANTUCKET   SAILOR. 

Spell  oh  ! — whew !  this  is  worse  than  pulling  after  whales  in 
a  calm — give  us  a  whiff,  Tash. 

{They  cease  dancing,  and  gather  in  clusters.  Meantime  the 
shy  darkens — the  wind  rises.) 

LASCAR   SAILOR. 

By  Brahma  !  boys,  it  '11  be  douse  sail  soon.  The  sky-born, 
high-tide  Ganges  turned  to  wind !  Thou  showest  thy  black 
brow,  Seeva! 

MALTESE    SAILOR. 

(Reclining  and  shaking  his  cap.) 
It's  the  waves — the  snow's  caps  turn  to  jig  it  now.  They'll 
shake  their  tassels  soon.  Now  would  all  the  waves  were  women, 
then  I'd  go  drown,  and  chassee  with  them  evermore  !  There's 
naught  so  sweet  on  earth — heaven  may  not  match  it ! — as  those 
swift  glances  of  warm,  wild  bosoms  in  the  dance,  when  the 
over-arboring  arms  hide  such  ripe,  bursting  grapes. 

SICILIAN    SAILOR. 

(Reclining) 
Tell  me  not  of  it !     Hark  ye,  lad — fleet  interlacings  of  the 
limbs — lithe  swayirigs — coyings — flutterings  !  lip  !  heart !  hip  ! 
all  graze :  unceasing  touch  and  go !  not  taste,  observe  ye,  else 
come  satiety.     Eh,  Pagan  ?    (Nudging) 


MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE.  193 

TAHITAN    SAILOR. 

(Reclining  on  a  mat.) 
Hail,  holy  nakedness  of  our  dancing  girls  ! — the  Heeva-Heeva  ! 
Ah  !  low  veiled,  high  palmed  Tahiti !  I  still  rest  me  on  thy  mat, 
but  the  soft  soil  has  shd  !  I  saw  thee  woven  in  the  wood,  my 
mat !  green  the  first  day  I  brought  ye  thence ;  now  worn  and 
wilted  quite.  Ah  me  ! — not  thou  nor  I  can  bear  the  change  ! 
How  then,  if  so  be  transplanted  to  yon  sky?  Hear  I  the  roar- 
ing streams  from  Pirohitee's  peak  of  spears,  when  they  leap 
down  the  crags  and  drown  the  villages  ? — The  blast !  the  blast ! 
Up,  spine,  and  meet  it!     (Leaps  to  his  feet.) 

PORTUGUESE    SAILOR. 

How  the  sea  rolls  swashing  'gainst  the  side !  Stand  by  for 
reefing,  hearties !  the  winds  are  just  crossing  swords,  pell-mell 
they'll  go  lunging  presently. 

DANISH    SAILOR. 

Crack,  crack,  old  ship  !  so  long  as  thou  crackest,  thou  holdest ! 
Well  done !  The  mate  there  holds  ye  to  it  stiffly.  He's  no 
more  afraid  than  the  isle  fort  at  Cattegat,  put  there  to  fight  the 
Baltic  with  storm-lashed  guns,  on  which  the  sea-salt  cakes  ! 

4TH    NANTUCKET    SAILOR. 

He  has  his  orders,  mind  ye  that.  I  heard  old  Ahab  tell  him 
he  must  always  kill  a  squall,  something  as  they  burst  a  water- 
spout with  a  pistol — fire  your  ship  right  into  it ! 

ENGLISH    SAILOR. 

Blood !  but  that  old  man's  a  grand  old  cove !  We  are  the 
lads  to  hunt  him  up  his  whale  ! 

ALL. 

Aye !  aye  ! 

•      OLD  -MANX    SAILOR.       - 

How  the  three  pines  shake  !     Pines  are  the  hardest  sort  of 
9 


194  MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE. 

tree  to  live  when  shifted  to  any  other  soil,  ana  here  there's  none 
but  the  crew's  cursed  clay.  Steady,  helmsman !  steady.  This 
is  the  sort  of  weather  when  brave  hearts  snap  ashore,  and 
keeled  hulls  split  at  sea.  Our  captain  has  his  birth-mark  ; 
look  yonder,  boys,  there's  another  in  the  sky — lurid-like,  ye  see, 
all  else  pitch  black. 

DAGGOO. 

What  of  that  ?  Who's  afraid  of  black's  afraid  of  mc  !  I'm 
quarried  out  of  it ! 

SPANISH    SAILOR. 

(Aside.)  He  wants  to  bully,  ah ! — the  old  grudge  makes  mc 
touchy.  (Advancing?)  Aye,  harpooneer,  thy  race  is  the  unde- 
niable dark  side  of  mankind — devilish  dark  at  that.  No 
offence. 

daggoo  (grimly). 

None. 

ST.   JAGO'S    SAILOR. 

That  Spaniard's  mad  or  drunk.  But  that  can't  be,  or  else  in 
his  one  case  our  old  Mogul's  fire-waters  are  somewhat  long  in 
working. 

5TH    NANTUCKET    SAILOR. 

What's  that  I  saw — lightning  ?     Yes. 

SPANISH    SAILOR. 

No  ;  Daggoo  showing  his  teeth. 

daggoo   (springing). 
Swallow  thine,  mannikin !     White  skin,  white  liver ! 

Spanish  sailor  (meeting  him). 
Knife  thee  heartily  !  big  frame,  small  spirit ! 

ALL. 

A  row !  a  row !  a  row  ! 

tashtego  (with  a  whiff). 
A  row  a'low,  and  a  row  aloft — Gods  and  men — both  brawl- 
ers !  Humph ! 


MIDNIGHT,    FORECASTLE.  195 

BELFAST    SAILOR. 

A  row  !  arrah  a  row  !  The  Virgin  be  blessed,  a  row  !  Plunge 
in  with  ye ! 

ENGLISH  SAILOR. 

Fair  play !     Snatch  the  Spaniard's  knife  !     A  ring,  a  ring ! 

OLD  MANX  SAILOR. 

Ready  formed.  There  !  the  ringed  horizon.  In  that  ring  Cain 
struck  Abel.  Sweet  work,  right  work  !  No  ?  Why  then,  God, 
niad'st  thou  the  ring  ? 

mate's  voice  from  the  quarter  deck. 
Hands  by  the  halyards  !  in  top-gallant  sails  !     Stand  by  t& 
reef  topsails  ! 

ALL. 

The  squall !  the  squall !  jump,  my  jollies !  {They  scatter!) 

pip  {shrinking  under  the  ivindlass). 
Jollies  ?  Lord  help  such  jollies  !  Crish,  crash !  there  goes 
the  jib-stay  !  Blang-whang !  God  !  Duck  lower,  Pip,  here 
comes  the  royal  yard !  It's  worse  than  being  in  the  whirled 
woods,  the  last  day  of  the  year !  Who'd  go  climbing  after 
chestnuts  now?  But  there  they  go,  all  cursing,  and  here  I 
don't.  Fine  prospects  to 'em;  they're  on  the  road  to  heaven. 
Hold  on  hard !  Jimmini,  what  a  squall !  But  those  chaps 
there  are  worse  yet — they  are  your  white  squalls,  they.  White 
squalls  ?  white  whale,  shirr !  shirr !  Here  have  I  heard  all 
their  chat  just  now,  and-  the  white  whale — shirr  !  shirr ! — but 
spoken  of  once !  and  only  this  evening — it  makes  me  jingle 
all  over  like  my  tambourine — that  anaconda  of  an  old  man 
swore  'em  in  to  hunt  him !  Oh,  thou  big  white  God  aloft 
there  somewhere  in  yon  darkness,  have  mercy  on  this  small 
black  boy  down  here ;  preserve  him  from  all  men  that  have  no 
bowels  to  feel  fear ! 


1D6  MOBY   DICK. 


CHAPTER  XLI. 

MOBY  DICK. 

I,  Ishmael,  was  one  of  that  crew  ;  my  shouts  had  gone  up 
with  the  rest ;  my  oath  had  been  welded  with  theirs ;  and 
stronger  I  shouted,  and  more  did  I  hammer  and  clinch  my  oath, 
because  of  the  dread  in  my  soul.  A  wild,  mystical,  sympatheti- 
cal  feeling  was  in  me ;  Ahab's  quenchless  feud  seemed  mine. 
With  greedy  ears  I  learned  the  history  of  that  murderous 
monster  against  whom  I  and  all  the  others  had  taken  our  oaths 
of  violence  and  revenge. 

For  some  time  past,  though  at  intervals  only,  the  unaccompa- 
nied, secluded  White  Whale  had  haunted  those  uncivilized  seas 
mostly  frequented  by  the  Sperm  Whale  fishermen.  But  not  all 
of  them  knew  of  his  existence  ;  only  a  few  of  them,  compara- 
tively, had  knowingly  seen  him ;  while  the  number  who  as  yet 
had  actually  and  knowingly  given  battle  to  him,  was  small  in- 
deed. For,  owing  to  the  large  number  of  whale-cruisers ;  the 
disorderly  way  they  were  sprinkled  over  the  entire  watery  cir- 
cumference, mkay  of  them  adventurously  pushing  their  quest 
along  solitary  latitudes,  so  as  seldom  or  never  for  a  whole 
twelvemonth  or  more  on  a  stretch,  to  encounter  a  single  news- 
telling  sail  of  any  sort ;  the  inordinate  length  of  each  separate 
voyage ;  the  irregularity  of  the  times  of  sailing  from  home ;  all 
these,  with  other  circumstances,  direct  and  indirect,  long  ob- 
structed the  spread  through  the  whole  world-wide  whaling-fleet 
of  the  special  individualizing  tidings  concerning  Moby  Dick.  It 
was  hardly  to  be  doubted,  that  several  vessels  reported  to  have 
encountered,  at  such  or  such  a  time,  or  on  such  or  such  a  meri- 
dian, a  Sperm  Whale  of  uncommon  magnitude  and  malignity, 


MOBY   DICK.  197 


which  whale,  after  doing  great  mischief  to  his  assailants,  had 
completely  escaped  them  ;  to  some  minds  it  was  not  an  unfair 
presumption,  I  say,  that  the  whale  in  question  must  have  been  no 
other  than  Moby  Dick.  Yet  as  of  late  the  Sperm  "Whale 
fishery  had  been  marked  by  various  and  not  unfrequent  instances 
of  great  ferocity,  cunning,  and  malice  in  the  monster  attacked  ; 
therefore  it  was,  that  those  who  by  accident  ignorantly  gave 
battle  to  Moby  Dick  ;  such  hunters,  perhaps,  for  the  most  part, 
were  content  to  ascribe  the  peculiar  terror  he  bred,  more,  as  it 
were,  to  the  perils  of  the  Sperm  Whale  fishery  at  largo,  than  to 
the  individual  cause.  In  that  way,  mostly,  the  disastrous 
encounter  between  Ahab  and  the  whale  had  hitherto  been  popu- 
larly regarded. 

And  as  for  those  who,  previously  hearing  of  the  "White 
"Whale,  by  chance  caught  sight  of  him  ;  in  the  beginning  of  the 
thing  they  had  every  one  of  them,  almost,  as  boldly  and  fear- 
lessly lowered  for  him,  as  for  any  other  whale  of  that  species. 
But  at  length,  such  calamities  did  ensue  in  these  assaults — not 
restricted  to  sprained  wrists  and  ancles,  broken  limbs,  or 
devouring  amputations — but  fatal  to  the  last  degree  of  fatality  ; 
those  repeated  disastrous  repulses,  all  accumulating  and  piling 
their  terrors  upon  Moby  Dick  ;  those  things  had  gone  far  to 
shake  the  fortitude  of  many  brave  hunters,  to  whom  the  story  of 
the  "White  "Whale  had  eventually  come. 

Nor  did  wild  rumors  of  all  sorts  fail  to  exaggerate,  and  still 
the  more  horrify  the  true  histories  of  these  deadly  encounters. 
For  not  only  do  fabulous  rumors  naturally  grow  out  of  the  very 
body  of  all  surprising  terrible  events, — as  the  smitten  tree  gives 
birth  to  its  fungi ;  but,  in  maritime  life,  far  more  than  in  that 
of  terra  firma,  wild  rumors  abound,  wherever  there  is  any  ade- 
quate reality  for  them  to  cling  to.  And  as  the  sea  surpasses  the 
land  in  this  matter,  so  the  whale  fishery  surpasses  every  other 
sort  of  maritime  life,  in  the  wonderf ulness  and  fearfulness  of  the 
rumors  which   sometimes   circulate  there.     For  not  only  are 


198  MOBY   DICK. 


whalemen  as  a  body  unexempt  from  that  ignorance  and  su- 
perstitiousness  hereditary  to  all  sailors ;  but  of  all  sailors,  they 
are  by  all  odds  the  most  directly  brought  into  contact  with 
whatever  is  appallingly  astonishing  in  the  sea ;  face  to  face  they 
not  only  eye  its  greatest  marvels,  but,  hand  to  jaw,  give  battle 
to  them.  Alone,  in  such  remotest  waters,  that  though  you 
sailed  a  thousand  miles,  and  passed  a  thousand  shores,  you 
would  not  come  to  any  chiselled  hearthstone,  or  aught  hospita- 
ble beneath  that  part  of  the  sun  ;  in  such  latitudes  and  longi- 
tudes, pursuing  too  such  a  calling  as  he  does,  the  whaleman  is 
wrapped  by  influences  all  tending  to  make  his  fancy  pregnant 
with  many  a  mighty  birth. 

No  wonder,  then,  that  ever  gathering  volume  from  the  mere 
transit  over  the  widest  watery  spaces,  the  outbLown  rumors  of 
the  White  Whale  did  in  the  end  incorporate  with  themselves  all 
manner  of  morbid  hints,  and  half-formed  fcetal  suggestions  of 
supernatural  agencies,  which  eventually  invested  Moby  Dick 
with  new  terrors  unborrowed  from  anything  that  visibly  appears.' 
So  that  in  many  cases  such  a  panic  did  he  finally  strike,  that 
few  who  by  those  rumors,  at  least,  had  heard  of  the  White 
Whale,  few  of  those  hunters  were  willing  to  encounter  the  perils 
of  his  jaw. 

But  there  were  still  other  and  more  vital  practical  influences 
at  work.  Not  even  at  the  present  day  has  the  original  prestige 
of  the  Sperm  Whale,  as  fearfnlly  distinguished  from  all  other 
species  of  the  leviathan,  died  out  of  the  minds  of  the  whalemen 
as  a  body.  There  are  those  this  day  among  them,  who,  though 
intelligent  and  courageous  enough  in  offering  battle  to  the 
Greenland  or  Right  whale,  would  perhaps — either  from  profes- 
sional inexperience,  or  incompetency,  or  timidity,  decline  a  con- 
test with  the  Sperm  Whale ;  at  any  rate,  there  are  plenty  of 
whalemen,  especially  among  those  whaling  nations  not  sailing 
under  the  American  flag,  who  have  never  hostilely  encountered 
the  Sperm  Whale,  but  whose  sole  knowledge  of  the  leviathan  is 


MOBY   DICK.  199 


restricted  to  the  ignoble  monster  primitively  pursued  in  the 
North  ;  seated  on  their  hatches,  these  men  will  hearken  with  a 
childish  fire-side  interest  and  awe,  to  the  wild,  strange  tales  of 
Southern  whaling.  Nor  is  the  pre-eminent  tremendousness  of 
the  great  Sperm  Whale  anywhere  more  feelingly  comprehended, 
than  on  board  of  those  prows  which  stem  him. 

And  as  if  the  now  tested  reality  of  his  might  had  in  former 
legendary  times  thrown  its  shadow  before  it ;  we  find  some 
book  naturalists — Olassen  and  Povelson — declaring  the  Sperm 
Whale  not  only  to  be  a  consternation  to  every  other  creature  in 
the  sea,  but  also  to  be  so  incredibly  ferocious  as  continually  to 
be  athirst  for  human  blood.  Nor  even  down  to  so  late  a  time 
as  Cuvier's,  were  these  or  almost  similar  impressions  effaced. 
For  in  his  Natural  History,  the  Baron  himself  affirms  that  at 
sight  of  the  Sperm  Whale,  all  fish  (sharks  included)  are  "  struck 
with  the  most  lively  terrors,"  and  "  often  in  the  precipitancy  of 
their  flight  dash  themselves  against  the  rocks  with  such  violence 
as  to  cause  instantaneous  death.''  And  however  the  general  ex- 
periences in  the  fishery  may  amend  such  reports  as  these  ;  yet 
in  their  full  terribleness,  even  to  the  bloodthirsty  item  of  Povel- 
son, the  superstitious  belief  in  them  is,  in  some  vicissitudes  of 
their  vocation,  revived  in  the  minds  of  the  hunters. 

So  that  overawed  by  the  rumors  and  portents  concerning 
him,  not  a  few  of  the  fishermen  recalled,  in  reference  to  Moby 
Dick,  the  earlier  days  of  the  Sperm  Whale  fishery,  when  it  was 
oftentimes  hard  to  induce  long  practised  Right  whalemen  to 
embark  in  the  j>erils  of  this  new  and  daring  warfare  ;  such 
men  protesting  that  although  other  leviathans  might  be  hope- 
fully pursued,  yet  to  chase  and  point  lance  at  such  an  appari- 
tion as  the  Sperm  Whale  was  not  for  mortal  man.  That  to 
attempt  it,  Avould  be  inevitably  to  be  torn  into  a  quick  eternity. 
On  this  head,  there  are  some  remarkable  documents  that  may 
be  consulted. 

Nevertheless,  some  there  were,  who  even  in  the  face  of  these 


200  MOBY   DICK. 


things  were  ready  to  give  chase  to  Moby  Dick  ;  and  a  still  greater 
number  who,  chancing  only  to  hear  of  him  distantly  and  vaguely, 
without  the  specific  details  of  any  certain  calamity,  and  without 
superstitious  accompaniments,  were  sufficiently  hardy  not  to  flee 
from  the  battle  if  offered. 

One  of  the  wild  suggestings  referred  to,  as  at  last  coming  to 
be  linked  with  the  White  Whale  in  the  minds  of  the  super- 
stitiously  inclined,  was  the  unearthly  conceit  that  Moby  Dick 
was  ubiquitous  ;  that  he  had  actually  been  encountered  in 
opposite  latitudes  at  one  and  the  same  instant  of  time. 

Nor,  credulous  as  such  minds  must  have  been,  was  this  con- 
ceit altogether  without  some  faint  show  of  superstitious  proba- 
bility. For  as  the  secrets  of  the  currents  in  the  seas  have  never 
yet  been  divulged,  even  to  the  most  erudite  research ;  so  the 
hidden  ways  of  the  Sperm  Whale  when  beneath  the  surface  re- 
main, in  great  part,  unaccountable  to  his  pursuers  ;  and  from 
time  to  time  have  originated  the  most  curious  and  contradictory 
speculations  regarding  them,  especially  concerning  the  mystic 
modes  whereby,  after  sounding  to  a  great  depth,  he  transports 
himself  with  such  vast  swiftness  to  the  most  widely  distant 
points. 

It  is  a  thing  well  known  to  both  American  and  English 
whale-ships,  and  as  well  a  thing  placed  upon  authoritative 
record  years  ago  by  Scoresby,  that  some  whales  have  been 
captured  far  north  in  the  Pacific,  in  whose  bodies  have  been 
found  the  barbs  of  harpoons  darted  in  the  Greenland  seas.  Nor 
is  it  to  be  gainsaid,  that  in  some  of  these  instances  it  has  been 
declared  that  the  interval  of  time  between  the  two  assaults 
could  not  have  exceeded  very  many  days.  Hence,  by  inference, 
it  has  been  believed  by  some  whalemen,  that  the  Nor'  West 
Passage,  so  long  a  problem  to  man,  was  never  a  problem  to  the 
whale.  So  that  here,  in  the  real  living  experience  of  living 
men,  the  prodigies  related  in  old  times  of  the  inland  Strello 
mountain  in  Portugal  (near  whose  top  there  was  said  to  be  a 


MOBY   DICK.  201 


lake  in  which  the  wrecks  of  ships  floated  up  to  the  surface)  ; 
and  that  still  more  wonderful  story  of  the  Arethusa  fountain 
near  Syracuse  (whose  waters  were  believed  to  have  come  from  the 
Holy  Land  by  an  underground  passage) ;  these  fabulous  nar- 
rations are  almost  fully  equalled  by  the  realities  of  the  whale- 
man. 

Forced  into  familiarity,  then,  with  such  prodigies  as  \hese ; 
and  knowing  that  after  repeated,  intrepid  assaults,  the  White 
Whale  had  escaped  alive  ;  it  cannot  be  much  matter  of  surprise 
that  some  whalemen  should  go  still  further  in  their  supersti- 
tions ;  declaring  Moby  Dick  not  only  ubiquitous,  but  immortal 
(for  immortality  is  but  ubiquity  in  time) ;  that  though  groves  of 
spears  should  be  planted  in  his  flanks,  he  would  still  swim  away 
unharmed  ;  or  if  indeed  he  should  ever  be  made  to  spout  thick 
blood,  such  a  sight  would  be  but  a  ghastly  deception  ;  for  again 
in  unensanguined  billows  hundreds  of  leagues  away,  his  unsul- 
lied jet  would  once  more  be  seen. 

But  even  stripped  of  these  supernatural  surmisings,  there  was 
enough  in  the  earthly  make  and  incontestable  character  of  the 
monster  to  strike  the  imagination  with  unwonted  power.  For, 
it  was  not  so  much  his  uncommon  bulk  that  so  much  distin- 
guished him  from  other  sperm  whales,  but,  as  was  elsewhere 
thrown  out — a  peculiar  snow-white  wrinkled  forehead,  and  a 
high,  pyramidical  white  hump.  These  were  his  prominent 
features ;  the  tokens  whereby,  even  in  the  limitless,  uncharted 
seas,  he  revealed  his  identity,  at  a  long  distance,  to  those  who 
knew  him. 

The  rest  of  his  body  was  so  streaked,  and  spotted,  and 
marbled  with  the  same  shrouded  hue,  that,  in  the  end,  he 
had  gained  his  distinctive  appellation  of  the  White  Whale  ;  a 
name,  indeed,  literally  justified  by  his  vivid  aspect,  when  seen 
gliding  at  high  noon  through  a  dark  blue  sea,  leaving  a  milky- 
way  wake  of  creamy  foam,  all  spangled  with  golden  gleamings. 
Nor  was   it  his   unwonted  magnitude,  nor  his  remarkable 

9* 


202  MOBY   DICK. 

hue,  nor  yet  Lis  deformed  lower  jaw,  that  so  much  invested 
the  whale  with  natural  terror,  as  that  unexampled,  intelligent 
malignity  which,  according  to  specific  accounts,  he  had  over 
and  over  again  evinced  in  his  assaults.  More  than  all,  his 
treacherous  retreats  struck  more  of  dismay  than  perhaps  aught 
else.  For,  when  swimming  before  his  exulting  pursuers,  with 
every  apparent  symptom  of  alarm,  he  had  several  times  been 
known  to  turn  round  suddenly,  and,  bearing  down  upon  them, 
either  stave  their  boats  to  splinters,  or  drive  them  back  in  con- 
sternation to  their  ship. 

Already  several  fatalities  had  attended  his  chase.  But  though 
similar  disasters,  however  little  bruited  ashore,  were  by  no 
means  unusual  in  the  fishery ;  yet,  in  most  instances,  such 
seemed  the  White  Whale's  infernal  aforethought  of  ferocity,  that 
every  dismembering  or  death .  that  he  caused,  was  not  wholly 
regarded  as  having  been  inflicted  by  an  unintelligent  agent. 

Judge,  then,  to  what  pitches  of  inflamed,  distracted  fury  the 
minds  of  his  more  desperate  hunters  were  impelled,  when  amid 
the  chips  of  chewed  boats,  and  the  sinking  limbs  of  torn  com- 
rades, they  swam  out  of  the  white  curds  of  the  whale's  direful 
wrath  into  the  serene,  exasperating  sunlight,  that  smiled  on,  as 
if  at  a  birth  or  a  bridal. 

His  three  boats  stove  around  him,  and  oars  and  men  both 
whirling  in  the  eddies;  one  captain,  seizing  the  line-knife  from 
his  broken  prow,  had  dashed  at  the  whale,  as  an  Arkansas 
duellist  at  his  foe,  blindly  seeking  with  a  six  inch  blade  to  reach 
the  fathom-deep  life  of  the  whale.  That  captain  was  Ahab. 
And  then  it  was,  that  suddenly  sweeping  his  sickle-shaped 
lower  jaw  beneath  him,  Moby  Dick  had  reaped  away  Ahab's 
leg,  as  a  mower  a  blade  of  grass  in  the  field.  JSTo  turbaned 
Turk,  no  hired  Venetian  or  Malay,  could  have  smote  him  with 
more  seeming  malice.  Small  reason  was  there  to  doubt, 
then,  that  ever  since  that  almost  fatal  encounter,  Ahab  had 
cherished  a  wild  vindictiveness  against  the  whale,  all  the  more 


MOBY   DICK.  203 


fell  for  that  in  his  frantic  morbidness  he  at  last  came  to 
identify  with  him,  not  only  all  his  bodily  woes,  but  all  his  in- 
tellectual and  spiritual  exasperations.  The  White  Whale  swam 
before  him  as  the  monomaniac  incarnation  of  all  those  mali- 
cious agencies  which  some  deep  men  feel  eating  in  them,  till 
they  are  left  living  on  with  half  a  heart  and  half  a  lung.  That 
intangible  malignity  which  has  been  from  the  beginning ;  to 
Avhose  dominion  even  the  modern  Christians  ascribe  one-half  of 
the  worlds ;  which  the  ancient  Ophites  of  the  east  reverenced 
in  their  statue  devil ; — Ahab  did  not  fall  down  and  worship  it 
like  them  ;  but  deliriously  transferring  its  idea  to  the  abhorred 
white  whale,  he  pitted  himself,  all  mutilated,  against  it.  All 
that  most  maddens  and  torments  ;  all  that  stirs  up  the  lees  of 
things  ;  all  truth  with  malice  in  it ;  all  that  cracks  the  sinews 
and  cakes  the  brain ;  all  the  subtle  demonisms  of  life  and 
thought ;  all  evil-,  to  crazy  Ahab,  were  visibly  personified,  and 
made  practically  assailable  in  Moby  Dick.  He  piled  upon  the 
whale's  white  hump  the  sum  of  all  the  general  rage  and  hate 
felt  by  his  whole  race  from  Adam  down ;  and  then,  as  if  his 
chest  had  been  a  mortar,  he  burst  his  hot  heart's  shell  upon  it. 
It  is  not  probable  that  this  monomania  in  him  took  its  instant 
rise  at  the  precise  time  of  his  bodily  dismemberment.  Then, 
in  darting  at  the  monster,  knife  in  hand,  he  had  but  given  loose 
to  a  sudden,  passionate,  corporal  animosity ;  and  when  he 
received  the  stroke  that  tore  him,  he  probably  but  felt  the  ago- 
nizing bodily  laceration,  but  nothing  more.  Yet,  when  by  this 
collision  forced  to  turn  towards  home,  and  for  long  months  of 
days  and  weeks,  Ahab  and  anguish  lay  stretched  together  in 
one  hammock,  rounding  in  mid  winter  that  dreary,  howling 
Patagonian  Cape ;  then  it  was,  that  his  torn  body  and  gashed 
soul  bled  into  one  another  ;  and  so  interfusing,  made  him  mad. 
That  it  was  only  then,  on  the  homeward  voyage,  after  the  en- 
counter, that  the  final  monomania  seized  him,  seems  all  but 
certain  from  the  fact  that,  at  intervals  during  the  passage,  he 


204  MOBY   DICK. 


was  a  raving  lunatic ;  and,  though  unlimbed  of  a  leg,  yet  such 
vital  strength  yet  lurked  in  his  Egyptian  chest,  and  was  more- 
over intensified  by  his  delirium,  that  his  mates  were  forced  to 
lace  him  fast,  even  there,  as  he  sailed,  raving  in  his  hammock. 
In  a  strait-jacket,  he  swung  to  the  mad  rockings  of  the  gales. 
And,  when  running  into  more  suffer  able  latitudes,  the  ship, 
with  mild  stun'sails  spread,  floated  across  the  tranquil  tropics, 
and,  to  all  appearances,  the  old  man's  delirium  seemed  left 
behind  him  with  the  Cape  Horn  swells,  and  he  came  forth 
from  his  dark  den  into  the  blessed  light  and  air ;  even  then, 
when  he  bore  that  firm,  collected  front,  however  pale,  and  issued 
his  calm  orders  once  again ;  and  his  mates  thanked  God  the 
direful  madness  was  now  gone ;  even  then,  Ahab,  in  his  hidden 
self,  raved  on.  Human  madness  is  oftentimes  a  cunning  and 
most  feline  thing.  When  you  think  it  fled,  it  may  have  but 
become  transfigured  into  some  still  subtler  form.  Ahab's  full 
lunacy  subsided  not,  but  deepeningly  contracted  ;  like  the  una- 
bated Hudson,  when  that  noble  Northman  flows  narrowly,  but 
unfathomably  through  the  Highland  gorge.  But,  as  in  his 
narrow-flowing  monomania,  not  one  jot  of  Ahab's  broad  mad- 
ness had  been  left  behind  ;  so  in  that  broad  madness,  not  one 
jot  of  his  great  natural  intellect  had  perished.  That  before 
living  agent,  now  became  the  living  instrument.  If  such  a 
furious  trope  may  stand,  his  special  lunacy  stormed  his  general 
sanity,  and  carried  it,  and  turned  all  its  concentred  cannon  upon 
its  own  mad  mark  ;  so  that  far  from  having  lost  his  strength, 
Ahab,  to  that  one  end,  did  now  possess  a  thousand  fold  more 
potency  than  ever  he  had  sanely  brought  to  bear  upon  any 
one  reasonable  object. 

This  is  much  ;  yet  Ahab's  larger,  darker,  deeper  part  remains 
unhinted.  But  vain  to  popularize  profundities,  and  all  truth  is 
profound.  Winding  far  down  from  within  the  very  heart  of 
this  spiked  Hotel  de  Cluny  where  we  here  stand — however  grand 
and  wonderful,  now  quit  it ; — and  take  your  way,  ye  nobler, 


MOBY   DICK.  205 


sadder  souls,  to  those  vast  Roman  halls  of  Thermes ;  where  far 
beneath  the  fantastic  towers  of  man's  upper  earth,  his  root  of 
grandeur,  his  whole  awful  essence  sits  in  bearded  state  ;  an 
antique  buried  beneath  antiquities,  and  throned  on  torsoes  !  So 
with  a  broken  throne,  the  great  gods  mock  that  captive  king ; 
so  like  a  Caryatid,  he  patient  sits,  upholding  on  his  frozen 
brow  the  piled  entablatures  of  ages.  Wind  ye  down  there,  ye 
prouder,  sadder  souls  !  question  that  proud,  sad  king !  A 
family  likeness  !  aye,  he  did  beget  ye,  ye  young  exiled  royal- 
ties ;  and  from  your  grim  sire  only  will  the  old  State-secret 
come. 

Now,  in  his  heart,  Ahab  had  some  glimpse  of  this,  namely  : 
all  my  means  are  sane,  my  motive  and  my  object  mad.  Yet 
without  power  to  kill,  or  change,  or  shun  the  fact ;  he  likewise 
knew  that  to  mankind  he  did  long  dissemble ;  in  some  sort,  did 
still.  But  that  thing  of  his  dissembling  was  only  subject  to 
his  perceptibility,  not  to  his  will  determinate.  Nevertheless,  so 
well  did  he  succeed  in  that  dissembling,  that  when  with  ivory 
leg  he  stepped  ashore  at  last,  no  Nantucketer  thought  him  other- 
wise than  but  naturally  grieved,  and  that  to  the  quick,  with  the 
terrible  casualty  which  had  overtaken  him. 

The  report  of  his  undeniable  delirium  at  sea  was  likewise 
popularly  ascribed  to  a  kindred  cause.  And  so  too,  all  the 
added  moodiness  which  always  afterwards,  to  the  very  day  of 
sailing  in  the  Pequod  on  the  present  voyage,  sat  brooding  on 
his  brow.  Nor  is  it  so  very  unlikely,  that  far  from  distrusting 
his  fitness  for  another  whaling  voyage,  on  account  of  such  dark 
symptoms,  the  calculating  people  of  that  prudent  isle  were  in- 
clined to  harbor  the  conceit,  that  for  those  very  reasons  he  was 
all  the  better  qualified  and  set  on  edge,  for  a  pursuit  so  full  of 
rage  and  wildness  as  the  bloody  hunt  of  whales.  Gnawed 
within  and  scorched  without,  with  the  infixed,  unrelenting 
fangs  of  some  incurable  idea ;  such  an  one,  could  he  be  found, 
would  seem  the  very  man  to  dart  his  iron  and  lift  his  lance 


206  MOBY   DICK. 


against  the  most  appalling  of  all  brutes.  Or,  if  for  any  reason 
thought  to  be  corporeally  incapacitated  for  that,  yet  such  an  one 
would  seem  superlatively  competent  to  cheer  and  howl  on  his 
underlings  to  the  attack.  But  be  all  this  as  it  may,  certain  it  is, 
that  with  the  mad  secret  of  his  unabated  rage  bolted  up  and 
keyed  in  him,  Ahab  had  purposely  sailed  upon  the  present  voy- 
age with  the  one  only  and  all-engrossing  object  of  hunting  the 
White  Whale.  Had  any  one  of  his  old  acquaintances  on  shore 
but  half  dreamed  of  what  was  lurking  in  him  then,  how  soon 
would  their  aghast  and  righteous  souls  have  wrenched  the  ship 
from  such  a  fiendish  man  !  They  were  bent  on  profitable  cruises, 
the  profit  to  be  counted  down  in  dollars  from  the  mint.  He 
was  intent  on  an  audacious,  immitigable,  and  supernatural  re- 
venge. 

Here,  then,  was  this  grey-headed,  ungodly  old  man,  chasing 
with  curses  a  Job's  whale  round  the  world,  at  the  head  of  a 
crew,  too,  chiefly  made  up  of  mongrel  renegades,  and  casta- 
ways, and  cannibals — morally  enfeebled  also,  by  the  incom- 
petence of  mere  unaided  virtue  or  right-mindedness  in  Star- 
buck,  the  invulnerable  jollity  of  indifference  and  recklessness 
in  Stubb,  and  the  pervading  mediocrity  in  Flask.  Such  a  crew, 
so  officered,  seemed  specially  picked  and  packed  by  some  infer- 
nal fatality  to  help  him  to  his  monomaniac  revenge.  How  it 
was  that  they  so  aboundingly  responded  to  the  old  man's  he — 
by  what  evil  magic  their  souls  were  possessed,  that  at  times  his 
hate  seemed  almost  theirs ;  the  White  Whale  as  much  their  in- 
sufferable foe  as  his  ;  how  all  this  came  to  be — what  the  White 
Whale  was  to  them,  or  how  to  their  unconscious  understandings, 
also,  in  some  dim,  unsuspected  way,  he  might  have  seemed  the 
gliding  great  demon  of  the  seas  of  life, — all  this  to  explain, 
would  be  to  dive  deeper  than  Ishmael  can  go.  The  subterranean 
miner  that  works  in  us  all,  how  can  one  tell  whither  leads  his 
shaft  by  the  ever  shifting,  muffled  sound  of  his  pick  ?  Who 
does  not  feel  the  irresistible  arm  drag  ?     What  skiff  in  tow  of 


WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE.  207 


a  seventy-four  can  stand  still  ?  For  one,  I  gave  myself  up  to 
the  abandonment  of  the  time  and  the  place  ;  but  while  yet 
all  a-rush  to  encounter  the  whale,  could  see  naught  in  that  brute 
but  the  deadliest  ill. 


CHAPTER  XLII. 

THE  WHITENESS  OF  THE  WHALE. 

What  the  white  whale  was  to  Ahab,  has  been  hinted  ;  what, 
at  times,  he  was  to  me,  as  yet  remains  unsaid. 

Aside  from  those  more  obvious  considerations  touching  Moby 
Dick,  which  could  not  but  occasionally  awaken  in  any  man's 
soul  some  alarm,  there  was  another  thought,  or  rather  vague, 
nameless  horror  concerning  him,  which  at  times  by  its  intensity 
completely  overpowered  all  the  rest ;  and  yet  so  mystical  and 
well  nigh  ineffable  was  it,  that  I  almost  despair  of  putting  it  in 
a  comprehensible  form.  It  was  the  whiteness  of  the  whale  that 
above  all  things  appalled  me.  But  how  can  I  hope  to  explain 
myself  here;  and  yet,  in  some  dim,  random  way,  explain  my- 
self I  must,  else  all  these  chapters  might  be  naught. 

Though  in  many  natural  objects,  whiteness  refiningly  en- 
hances beauty,  as  if  imparting  some  special  virtue  of  its  own, 
as  in  marbles,  japonicas,  and  pearls ;  and  though  various 
nations  have  in  some  way  recognised  a  certain  royal  pre-eminence 
in  this  hue ;  even  the  barbaric,  grand  old  kings  of  Pegu  placing 
the  title  "Lord  of  the  White  Elephants"  above  all  their  other 
magniloquent  ascriptions  of  dominion ;  and  the  modern  kings 
of  Siam  unfurling  the  same  snow-white  quadruped  in  the  royal 
standard  ;  and  the  Hanoverian  flag  bearing  the  one  figure  of  a 
snow-white  charger ;  and  the  great  Austrian  Empire,  Caesarian, 
heir  to  overlording  Rome,  having  for  the  imperial  color  the 
same  imperial  hue  ;  and  though  this  pre-eminence  in  it  applies 


208  WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE. 

to  the  human  race  itself,  giving  the  white  man  ideal  mastership 
over  every  dusky  tribe  ;  and  though,  besides  all  this,  whiteness 
has  been  even  made  significant  of  gladness,  for  among  the 
Romans  a  white  stone  marked  a  joyful  day ;  and  though  in 
other  mortal  sympathies  and  symbolizings,  this  same  hue  is 
made  the  emblem  of  many  touching,  noble  things — the  inno- 
cence of  brides,  the  benignity  of  age ;  though  among  the  Red 
Men  of  America  the  giving  of  the  white  belt  of  wampum  was 
the  deepest  pledge  of  honor  ;  though  in  many  climes,  whiteness 
typifies  the  majesty  of  Justice  in  the  ermine  of  the  Judge,  and 
contributes  to  the  daily  state  of  kings  and  queens  drawn  by 
milk-white  steeds  ;  though  even  in  the  higher  mysteries  of  the 
most  august  religions  it  has  been  made  the  symbol  of  the  divine 
spotlessness  and  power ;  by  the  Persian  fire  worshippers,  the 
white  forked  flame  being  held  the  holiest  on  the  altar ;  and  in 
the  Greek  mythologies,  Great  Jove  himself  being  made  incar- 
nate in  a  snow-white  bull ;  and  though  to  the  noble  Iroquois, 
the  midwinter  sacrifice  of  the  sacred  White  Dog  was  by  far  the 
holiest  festival  of  their  theology,  that  spotless,  faithful  creature 
being  held  the  purest  envoy  they  could  send  to  the  Great  Spirit 
with  the  annual  tidings  of  their  own  fidelity ;  and  though 
directly  from  the  Latin  word  for  white,  all  Christian  priests  de- 
rive the  name  of  one  part  of  their  sacred  vesture,  the  alb  or 
tunic,  worn  beneath  the  cassock ;  and  though  among  the  holy 
pomps  of  the  Romish  faith,  white  is  specially  employed  in  the 
celebration  of  the  Passion  of  our  Lord ;  though  in  the  Vision 
of  St.  John,  white  robes  are  given  to  the  redeemed,  and  the 
four-and-twenty  elders  stand  clothed  in  white  before  the  great 
white  throne,  and  the  Holy  One  that  sitteth  there  white  like 
wool ;  yet  for  all  these  accumulated  associations,  with  whatever 
is  sweet,  and  honorable,  and  sublime,  there  yet  lurks  an  elusive 
something  in  the  innermost  idea  of  this  hue,  which  strikes 
more  of  panic  to  the  soul  than  that  redness  which  affrights  in 
blood. 


WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE.  209 

This  elusive  quality  it  is,  which,  causes  the  thought  of  white- 
ness, when  divorced. from  more  kindly  associations,  and  coupled 
with  any  object  terrible  in  itself,  to  heighten  that  terror  to  the 
furthest  bounds.  Witness  the  white  bear  of  the  poles,  and  the 
white  shark  of  the  tropics ;  what  but  their  smooth,  flaky  white- 
ness makes  them  the  transcendent  horrors  they  are  ?  That 
ghastly  whiteness  it  is  which  imparts  such  an  abhorrent  mild- 
ness, even  more  loathsome  than  terrific,  to  the  dumb  gloating 
of  their  aspect.  So  that  not  the  fierce-fanged  tiger  in  his 
heraldic  coat  can  so  stagger  courage  as  the  white-shrouded  bear 
or  shark.* 

Bethink  thee  of  the  albatross,  whence  come  those  clouds  of 
spiritual  wonderment  and  pale  dread,  in  which  that  white 
phantom  sails  in  all  imaginations  ?  Not  Coleridge  first  threw 
that  spell ;  but  God's  great,  unflattering  laureate,  Nature.* 

*  With  reference  to  the  Polar  bear,  it  may  possibly  be  urged  by  him 
who  would  fain  go  still  deeper  into  this  matter,  that  it  is  not  the  white- 
ness, separately  regarded,  which  heightens  the  intolerable  hideousness  of 
that  brute ;  for,  analysed,  that  heightened  hideousness,  it  might  be  said, 
only  arises  from  the  circumstance,  that  the  irresponsible  ferociousness  of 
the  creature  stands  invested  in  the  fleece  of  celestial  innocence  and  love  ; 
and  hence,  by  bringing  together  two  such  opposite  emotions  in  our  minds, 
the  Polar  bear  frightens  us  with  so  unnatural  a  contrast.  But  even  as- 
suming all  this  to  be  true ;  yet,  were  it  not  for  the  whiteness,  you  would 
not  have  that  intensified  terror. 

As  for  the  white  shark,  the  white  gliding  ghostliness  of  repose  in  that 
creature,  when  beheld  in  his  ordinary  moods,  strangely  tallies  with  the 
same  quality  in  the  Polar  quadruped.  This  peculiarity  is  most  vividly 
hit  by  the  French  in  the  name  they  bestow  upon  that  fish.  The  Romish 
mass  for  the  dead  begins  with  "  Requiem  eternam"  (eternal  rest),  whence 
Requiem  denominating  the  mass  itself,  and  any  other  funereal  music. 
Now,  in  allusion  to  the  white,  silent  stillness  of  death  in  this  shark,  and 
the  mild  deadliness  of  his  habits,  the  French  call  him  Requin. 

*  I  remember  the  first  albatross  I  ever  saw.  It  was  during  a  prolonged 
gale,  in  waters  hard  upon  the  Antarctic  seas.  From  my  forenoon  watch 
below,  I  ascended  to  the  overclouded  deck  ;  and  there,  dashed  upon  the 


210  WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE. 

Most  famous  in  our  Western  annals  and  Indian  traditions  is 
that  of  the  White  Steed  of  the  Praries  ;  a  magnificent  milk- 
white  charger,  large-eyed,  small-headed,  bluff-chested,  and  with 
the  dignity  of  a  thousand  monarchs  in  his  lofty,  overscorning 
carriage.  He  was  the  elected  Xerxes  of  vast  herds  of  wild 
horses,  whose  pastures  in  those  days  were  only  fenced  by  the 

main  hatches,  I  saw  a  regal,  feathery  thing  of  unspotted  whiteness,  and 
with  a  hooked,  Roman  bill  sublime.  At  intervals,  it  arched  forth  its  vast 
archangel  wings,  as  if  to  embrace  some  holy  ark.  Wondrous  flutterings 
and  throbbings  shook  it.  Though  bodily  unharmed,  it  uttered  cries,  as 
some  king's  ghost  in  supernatural  distress.  Through  its  inexpressible, 
strange  eyes,  methought  I  peeped  to  secrets  which  took  hold  of  God.  As 
Abraham  before  the  angels,  I  bowed  myself;  the  white  thing  was  so 
white,  its  wings  so  wide,  and  in  those  for  ever  exiled  waters,  I  had  lost  the 
miserable  warping  memories  of  traditions  and  of  towns.  Long  I  gazed 
at  that  prodigy  of  plumage.  I  cannot  tell,  can  only  hint,  the  things  that 
darted  through  me  then.  But  at  last  I  awoke ;  and  turning,  asked  a  sailor 
what  bird  was  this.  A  goney,  he  replied.  Goney  !  I  never  had  heard 
that  name  before  ;  is  it  conceivable  that  this  glorious  thing  is  utterly  un- 
known to  men  ashore  !  never !  But  some  time  after,  I  learned  that  goney 
was  some  seaman's  name  for  albatross.  So  that  by  no  possibility  could 
Coleridge's  wild  Rhyme  have  had  aught  to  do  with  those  mystical  im- 
pressions which  were  mine,  when  I  saw  that  bird  upon  our  deck.  For 
neither  had  I  then  read  the  Rhyme,  nor  knew  the  bird  to  be  an  albatross. 
Yet,  in  saying  this,  I  do  but  indirectly  burnish  a  little  brighter  the  noble 
merit  of  the  poem  and  the  poet. 

I  assert,  then,  that  in  the  wondrous  bodily  whiteness  of  the  bird  chiefly 
lurks  the  secret  of  the  spell ;  a  truth  the  more  evinced  in  this,  that  by  a 
solecism  of  terms  there  are  birds  called  grey  albatrosses ;  and  these  I 
have  frequently  seen,  but  never  with  such  emotions  as  when  I  beheld  the 
Antarctic  fowl. 

But  how  had  the  mystic  thing  been  caught  ?  Whisper  it  not,  and  I 
will  tell  ;  with  a  treacherous  hook  and  line,  as  the  fowl  floated  on  the 
sea.  At  last  the  Captain  made  a  postman  of  it ;  tying  a  lettered, 
leathern  tally  round  its  neck,  with  the  ship's  time  and  place  ;  and  then 
letting  it  escape.  But  I  doubt  not,  that  leathern  tally,  meant  for  man, 
was  taken  off  in  Heaven,  when  the  white  fowl  flew  to  join  the  wing-fold- 
ing, the  invoking,  and  adoring  cherubim  ! 


WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE.  211 

Rocky  Mountains  and  the  Alleghanies.  At  their  flaming  head 
he  westward  trooped  it  like  that  chosen  star  which  every  even- 
ing leads  on  the  hosts  of  light.  The  flashing  cascade  of  his 
mane,  the  curving  comet  of  his  tail,  invested  him  with  housings 
more  resplendent  than  gold  and  silver-beaters  could  have  fur- 
nished him.  A  most  imperial  and  archangelical  apparition  of 
that  unfallen,  western  world,  which  to  the  eyes  of  the  old  trap- 
pers and  hunters  revived  the  glories  of  those  primeval  times 
when  Adam  walked  majestic  as  a  god,  bluff-bowed  and  fearless 
as  this  mighty  steed.  Whether  marching  amid  his  aides  and 
marshals  in  the  van  of  countless  cohorts  that  endlessly  streamed 
it  over  the  plains,  like  an  Ohio ;  or  whether  with  his  circumambi- 
ent subjects  browsing  all  around  at  the  horizon,  the  White 
Steed  gallopingly  reviewed  them  with  warm  nostrils  reddening 
through  his  cool  milkiness  ;  in  whatever  aspect  he  presented 
himself,  always  to  the  bravest  Indians  he  was  the  object  of 
trembling  reverence  and  awe.  Nor  can  it  be  questioned  from 
what  stands  on  legendary  record  of  this  noble  horse,  that  it  was 
his  spiritual  whiteness  chiefly,  which  so  clothed  him  with  di- 
vineness ;  and  that  this  divineness  had  that  in  it  which,  though 
commanding  worship,  at  the  same  time  enforced  a  certain  name- 
less terror. 

But  there  are  other  instances  where  this  whiteness  loses  all 
that  accessory  and  strange  glory  which  invests  it  in  the  White 
Steed  and  Albatross. 

What  is  it  that  in  the  Albino  man  so  peculiarly  repels  and 
often  shocks  the  eye,  as  that  sometimes  he  is  loathed  by  his 
own  kith  and  kin  !  It  is  that  whiteness  which  invests  him,  a 
thing  expressed  by  the  name  he  bears.  The  Albino  is  as  well 
made  as  other  men — has  no  substantive  deformity — and  yet 
this  mere  aspect  of  all-pervading  whiteness  makes  him  more 
strangely  hideous  than  the  ugliest  abortion.  Why  should  this 
be  so  ? 


212  WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE. 

Nor,  in  quite  other  aspects,  does  Nature  in  her  least  palpable 
but  not  the  less  malicious  agencies,  fail  to  enlist  among  her 
forces  this  crowning  attribute  of  the  terrible.  From  its  snowy- 
aspect,  the  gauntleted  ghost  of  the  Southern  Seas  has  been 
denominated  the  White  Squall.  Nor,  in  some  historic  in- 
stances, has  the  art  of  human  malice  omitted  so  potent  an  aux- 
iliary. How  wildly  it  heightens  the  effect  of  that  passage  in 
Froissart,  when,  masked  in  the  snowy  symbol  of  their  faction, 
the  desperate  White  Hoods  of  Ghent  murder  their  bailiff  in  the 
market-place ! 

Nor,  in  some  things,  does  the  common,  hereditary  experience 
of  all  mankind  fail  to  bear  witness  to  the  supernaturalism  of 
this  hue.  It  cannot  well  be  doubted,  that  the  one  visible  quali- 
ty in  the  aspect  of  the  dead  which  most  appals  the  gazer,  is  the 
marble  pallor  lingering  there  ;  as  if  indeed  that  pallor  were  as 
much  like  the  badge  of  consternation  in  the  other  world,  as  of 
mortal  trepidation  here.  And  from  that  pallor  of  the  dead,  we 
borrow  the  expressive  hue  of  the  shroud  in  which  we  wrap  them. 
Nor  even  in  our  superstitions  do  we  fail  to  throw  the  same 
snowy  mantle  round  our  phantoms  ;  all  ghosts  rising  in  a  milk- 
white  fog — Yea,  while  these  terrors  seize  us,  let  us  add,  that 
even  the  king  of  terrors,  when  personified  by  the  evangelist, 
rides  on  his  pallid  horse. 

Therefore,  in  his  other  moods,  symbolize  whatever  grand  or 
gracious  thing  he  will  by  whiteness,  no  man  can  deny  that  in 
its  profoundest  idealized  significance  it  calls  up  a  peculiar  appari- 
tion to  the  soul. 

But  though  without  dissent  this  point  be  fixed,  how  is  mortal 
man  to  account  for  it  ?  To  analyse  it,  would  seem  impossible. 
Can  we,  then,  by  the  citation  of  some  of  those  instances  where- 
in this  thing  of  whiteness — though  for  the  time  either  wholly 
or  in  great  part  stripped  of  all  direct  associations  calculated  to 
impart  to  it  aught  fearful,  but,  nevertheless,  is  found  to  exert 


WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE.  213 

over  us  the  same  sorcery,  however  modified ; — can  we  thus 
hope  to  light  upon  some  chance  clue  to  conduct  us  to  the  hid- 
den cause  we  seek  ? 

Let  us  try.  But  in  a  matter  like  this,  subtlety  appeals  to 
subtlety,  and  without  imagination  no  man  can  follow  another 
into  these  halls.  And  though,  doubtless,  some  at  least  of  the 
imaginative  impressions  about  to  be  presented  may  have  been 
shared  by  most  men,  yet  few  perhaps  were  entirely  conscious  of 
them  at  the  time,  and  therefore  may  not  be  able  to  recall  them 
now. 

Why  to  the  man  of  untutored  ideality,  who  happens  to  be 
but  loosely  acquainted  with  the  peculiar  character  of  the  day, 
does  the  bare  mention  of  Whitsuntide  marshal  in  the  fancy  such 
long,  dreary,  speechless  processions  of  slow-pacing  pilgrims, 
down-cast  and  hooded  with  new-fallen  snow  ?  Or,  to  the  unread, 
unsophisticated  Protestant  of  the  Middle  American  States,  why 
does  the  passing  mention  of  a  White  Friar  or  a  White  Nun, 
evoke  such  an  eyeless  statue  in  the  soul  ? 

Or  what  is  there  apart  from  the  traditions  of  dungeoned  war- 
riors and  kings  (which  will  not  wholly  account  for  it)  that 
makes  the  White  Tower  of  London  tell  so  much  more  strongly 
on  the  imagination  of  an  untravelled  American,  than  those  other 
storied  structures,  its  neighbors — the  By  ward  Tower,  or  even  the 
Bloody  ?  And  those  sublimer  towers,  the  White  Mountains  of 
New  Hampshire,  whence,  in  peculiar  moods,  comes  that  gigantic 
ghostliness  over  the  soul  at  the  bare  mention  of  that  name 
while  the  thought  of  Virginia's  Blue  Ridge  is  full  of  a  soft,  dewy, 
distant  dreaminess  ?  Or  why,  irrespective  of  all  latitudes  and 
longitudes,  does  the  name  of  the  White  Sea  exert  such  a  spec- 
tralness  over  the  fancy,  while  that  of  the  Yellow  Sea  lulls  us 
with  mortal  thoughts  of  long  lacquered  mild  afternoons  on  the 
waves,  followed  by  the  gaudiest  and  yet  sleepiest  of  sunsets  ?  Or, 
to  choose  a  wholly  unsubstantial  instance,  purely  addressed  to  the 
fancy,  why,  in  reading  the  old  fairy  tales  of  Central  Europe,  does 


214  WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE. 

"the  tall  pale  man"  of  the  Hartz  forests,  whose  changeless 
pallor  unrustlingly  glides  through  the  green  of  the  groves — why 
is  this  phantom  more  terrible  than  all  the  whooping  imps  of  the 
Blocksburg  ? 

Nor  is  it,  altogether,  the  remembrance  of  her  cathedral- 
toppling  earthquakes ;  nor  the  stampedoes  of  her  frantic  seas  : 
nor  the  tearlessness  of  arid  skies  that  never  rain ;  nor  the  sight 
of  her  wide  field  of  leaning  spires,  wrenched  cope-stones,  and 
crosses  all  adroop  (like  canted  yards  of  anchored  fleets)  ;  and 
her  suburban  avenues  of  house-walls  lying  over  upon  each  other, 
as  a  tossed  pack  of  cards  ; — it  is  not  these  things  alone  which 
make  tearless  Lima,  the  strangest,  saddest  city  thou  can'st  see- 
For  Lima  has  taken  the  white  veil ;  and  there  is  a  higher  horror 
in  this  whiteness  of  her  woe.  Old  as  Pizarro,  this  whiteness 
keeps  her  ruins  for  ever  new ;  admits  not  the  cheerful 
greenness  of  complete  decay;  spreads  over  her  broken  ram- 
parts the  rigid  pallor  of  an  apoplexy  that  fixes  its  own 
distortions. 

I  know  that,  to  the  common  apprehension,  this  phenomenon 
of  whiteness  is  not  confessed  to  be  the  prime  agent  in  exag- 
gerating the  terror  of  objects  otherwise  terrible ;  nor  to  the  un- 
imaginative mind  is  there  aught  of  terror  in  those  appearances 
whose  awfulness  to  another  mind  almost  solely  consists  in  this 
one  phenomenon,  especially  when  exhibited  under  any  form  at 
all  approaching  to  muteness  or  universality.  What  I  mean  by 
these  two  statements  may  perhaps  be  respectively  elucidated  by 
the  following  examples. 

First :  The  mariner,  when  drawing  nigh  the  coasts  of  foreign 
lands,  if  by  night  he  hear  the  roar  of  breakers,  starts  to  vigi- 
lance, and  feels  just  enough  of  trepidation  to  sharpen  all  his 
faculties ;  but  under  precisely  similar  circumstances,  let  him  be 
called  from  his  hammock  to  view  his  ship  sailing  through  a 
midnight  sea  of  milky  whiteness — as  if  from  encircling  head- 
lands shoals  of  combed  white  bears  were  swimming  round  him, 


WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE.  215 

then  he  feels  a  silent,  superstitious  dread ;  the  shrouded  phantom 
of  the  whitened  waters  is  horrible  to  him  as  a  real  ghost ;  in 
vain  the  lead  assures  him  he  is  still  off  soundings  ;  heart  and 
helm  they  both  go  down  ;  he  never  rests  till  blue  water  is  undev 
him  again.  Yet  where  is  the  mariner  who  will  tell  thee,  "  Sir, 
it  was  not  so  much  the  fear  of  striking  hidden  rocks,  as  the  fear 
of  that  hideous  whiteness  that  so  stirred  me  ?" 

Second :  To  the  native  Indian  of  Peru,  the  continual  sight  of 
the  snow-howdahed  Andes  conveys  naught  of  dread,  except, 
perhaps,  in  the  mere  fancying  of  the  eternal  frosted  desolateness 
reigning  at  such  vast  altitudes,  and  the  natural  conceit  of  what 
a  tearfulness  it  would  be  to  lose  oneself  in  such  inhuman  soli- 
tudes. Much  the  same  is  it  with  the  backwoodsman  of  the 
West,  who  with  comparative  indifference  views  an  unbounded 
prairie  sheeted  with  driven  snow,  no  shadow  of  tree  or  twig  to 
break  the  fixed  trance  of  whiteness.  Not  so  the  sailor,  behold- 
ing the  scenery  of  the  Antarctic  seas ;  where  at  times,  by  some 
infernal  trick  of  legerdemain  in  the  powers  of  frost  and  air,  he, 
shivering  and  half  shipwrecked,  instead  of  rainbows  speaking 
hope  and  solace  to  his  misery,  views  what  seems  a  boundless 
church-yard  grinning  upon  him  with  its  lean  ice  monuments  and 
splintered  crosses. 

But  thou  sayest,  methinks  this  white-lead  chapter  about 
whiteness  is  but  a  white  flag  hung  out  from  a  craven  soul ;  thou 
surrenderest  to  a  hypo,  Ishmael. 

Tell  me,  why  this  strong  young  colt,  foaled  in  some 
peaceful  valley  of  Vermont,  far  removed  from  all  beasts  of  prey — 
why  is  it  that  upon  the  sunniest  day,  if  you  but  shake  a  fresh 
buffalo  robe  behind  him,  so  that  he  cannot  even  see  it,  but 
only  smells  its  wild  animal  muskiness — why  will  he  start,  snort, 
and  with  bursting  eyes  paw  the  ground  in  phrensies  of  affright  ? 
There  is  no  remembrance  in  him  of  any  gorings  of  wild  crea- 
tures in  his  green  northern  home,  so  that  the  strange  muskiness 
he  smells  cannot  recall  to  him  anything  associated  with  the  ex- 


216  WHITENESS    OF    THE    WHALE. 

perience  of  former  perils  ;  for  what  knows  he,  this  New  England 
colt,  of  the  black  bisons  of  distant  Oregon  ? 

No  :  but  here  thou  beholdest  even  in  a  dumb  brute,  the.  in- 
stinct of  the  knowledge  of  the  demonism  in  the  world.  Thouo-h 
thousands  of  miles  from  Oregon,  still  when  he  smells  that  savage 
musk,  the  rending,  goring  bison  herds  are  as  present  as  to  the 
deserted  wild  foal  of  the  prairies,  which  this  instant  they  may 
be  trampling  into  dust. 

Thus,  then,  the  muffled  rollings  of  a  milky  sea;  the  bleak 
rustlings  of  the  festooned  frosts  of  mountains ;  the  desolate 
shiftings  of  the  windrowed  snows  of  prairies  ;  all  these,  to  Ishmael, 
are  as  the  shaking  of  that  buffalo  robe  to  the  frightened  colt ! 

Though  neither  knows  where  lie  the  nameless  things  of  which 
the  mystic  sign  gives  forth  such  hints ;  yet  with  me,  as  with  the 
colt,  somewhere  those  things  must  exist.  Though  in  many  of 
its  aspects  this  visible  world  seems  formed  in  love,  the  invisible 
spheres  were  formed  in  fright. 

But  not  yet  have  we  solved  the  incantation  of  this  whiteness, 
and  learned  why  it  appeals  with  such  power  to  the  soul ;  and 
more  strange  and  far  more  portentous — why,  as  we  have  seen, 
it  is  at  once  the  most  meaning  symbol  of  spiritual  things,  nay, 
the  very  veil  of  the  Christian's  Deity  ;  and  yet  should  be  as  it 
is,  the  intensifying  agent  in  things  the  most  appalling  to  man- 
kind. 

Is  it  that  by  its  indefiniteness  it  shadows  forth  the  heartless 
voids  and  immensities  of  the  universe,  and  thus  stabs  us  from 
behind  with  the  thought  of  annihilation,  when  beholding  the 
white  depths  of  the  milky  way?  Or  is  it,  that  as  in  essence 
whiteness  is  not  so  much  a  color  as  the  visible  absence  of  color, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  concrete  of  all  colore  ;  is  it  for  these 
reasons  that  there  is  such  a  dumb  blankness,  full  of  meaning,  in 
a  wide  landscape  of  snows — a  colorless,  all-color  of  atheism 
from  which  we  shrink?  And  when  we  consider  that  other 
theory  of  the  natural  philosophers,  that  all  other  earthly  hues — 


HARK!  217 

every  stately  or  lovely  emblazoning — the  sweet  tinges  of  sunset 
skies  and  woods  ;  yea,  and  the  gilded  velvets  of  butterflies,  and  the 
butterfly  cheeks  of  young  girls ;  all  these  are  but  subtile  deceits, 
not  actually  inherent  in  substances,  but  only  laid  on  from  with- 
out ;  so  that  all  deified  Nature  absolutely  paints  like  the  harlot, 
whose  allurements  cover  nothing  but  the  charnel-house  within ; 
and  when  we  proceed  further,  and  consider  that  the  mystical 
cosmetic  which  produces  every  one  of  her  hues,  the  great  prin- 
ciple of  light,  for  ever  remains  white  or  colorless  in  itself,  and  if 
operating  without  medium  upon  matter,  would  touch  all  objects, 
even  tulips  and  roses,  with  its  own  blank  tinge — pondering  all 
this,  the  palsied  universe  lies  before  us  a  leper ;  and  like  wilful 
travellers  in  Lapland,  who  refuse  to  wear  colored  and  coloring 
glasses  upon  then-  eyes,  so  the  wretched  infidel  gazes  himself 
blind  at  the  monumental  white  shroud  that  wraps  all  the  pros- 
pect around  him.  And  of  all  these  things  the  Albino  whale 
was  the  symbol.     Wonder  ye  then  at  the  fiery  hunt  ? 


CHAPTER  XLIH. 

hark! 

"  Hist  !  Did  you  hear  that  noise,  Cabaco  V 
It  was  the  middle-watch  :  a  fair  moonlight ;  the  seamen  were 
standing  in  a  cordon,  extending  from  one  of  the  fresh-water 
butts  in  the  waist,  to  the  scuttle-butt  near  the  taffrail.  In  this 
manner,  they  passed  the  buckets  to  fill  the  scuttle-butt.  Stand- 
ing, for  the  most  part,  on  the  hallowed  precincts  of  the  quarter- 
deck, they  were  careful  not  to  speak  or  rustle  their  feet.  From 
hand  to  hand,  the  buckets  went  in  the  deepest  silence,  only 
broken  by  the  occasional  flap  of  a  sail,  and  the  steady  hum  of 
the  unceasingly  advancing  keel. 

10 


218  THE    CHART. 


It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  repose,  that  Archy,  one  of  the 
cordon,  whose  post  was  near  the  after-hatches,  whispered  to  his 
neighbor,  a  Cholo,  the  words  above. 

"  Hist !  did  you  hear  that  noise,  Cabaco  ?" 

"  Take  the  bucket,  will  ye,  Archy  ?  what  noise  d'ye  mean  ? " 

"  There  it  is  again — under  the  hatches — don't  you  hear  it — 
a  cough — it  sounded  like  a  cough." 

"  Cough  be  damned !     Pass  along  that  return  bucket." 

"  There  again — there  it  is ! — it  sounds  like  two  or  three 
sleepers  turning  over,  now ! " 

"  Caramba !  have  done,  shipmate,  will  ye  ?  It's  the  three 
soaked  biscuits  ye  eat  for  supper  turning  over  inside  of  ye — 
nothing  else.     Look  to  the  bucket ! '' 

"  Say  what  ye  will,  shipmate ;  I've  sharp  eai*s." 

"Aye,  you  are  the  chap,  ain't  ye,  that  heard  the  hum  of  the 
old  Quakeress's  knitting-needles  fifty  miles  at  sea  from  Nan- 
tucket ;  you're  the  chap." 

"  Grin  away ;  we'll  see  what  turns  up.  Hark  ye,  Cabaco, 
there  is  somebody  down  in  the  after-hold  that  has  not  yet  been 
seen  on  deck ;  and  I  suspect  our  old  Mogul  knows  something 
of  it  too.  I  heard  Stubb  tell  Flask,  one  morning  watch,  that 
there  was  something  of  that  sort  in  the  wind." 

"Tish!  the  bucket!" 


CHAPTER  XUV. 

THE  CHART. 


Had  you  followed  Captain  Ahab  down  into  his  cabin  after 
the  squall  that  took  place  on  the  night  succeeding  that  wild 
ratification  of  his  purpose  with  his  crew,  you  would  have  seen 
him  go  to  a  locker  in  the  transom,  and  bringing  out  a  large 


THE    CHART.  219 

wrinkled  roll  of  yellowish  sea  charts,  spread  them  before  him 
on  his  screwed-down  table.  Then  seating  himself  before  it,  you 
would  have  seen  him  intently  study  the  various  lines  and 
shadings  which  there  met  his  eye  ;  and  with  slow  but  steady 
pencil  trace  additional  courses  over  spaces  that  before  were 
blank.  At  intervals,  he  would  refer  to  piles  of  old  log-books 
beside  him,  wherein  were  set  down  the  seasons  and  places  in 
which,  on  various  former  voyages  of  various  ships,  sperm  whales 
had  been  captured  or  seen. 

While  thus  employed,  the  heavy  pewter  lamp  suspended  in 
chains  over  his  head,  continually  rocked  with  the  motion  of  the 
ship,  and  for  ever  threw  shifting  gleams  and  shadows  of  lines 
upon  his  wrinkled  brow,  till  it  almost  seemed  that  while  he 
himself  was  marking  out  lines  and  courses  on  the  wrinkled 
charts,  some  invisible  pencil  was  also  tracing  lines  and  courses 
upon  the  deeply  marked  chart  of  his  forehead. 

But  it  was  not  this  night  in  particular  that,  in  the  solitude  of 
his  cabin,  Ahab  thus  pondered  over  his  charts.  Almost  every 
night  they  were  brought  out ;  almost  every  night  some  pencil 
marks  were  effaced,  and  others  were  substituted.  For  with  the 
charts  of  all  four  oceans  before  him,  Ahab  was  threading  a 
maze  of  currents  and  eddies,  with  a  view  to  the  more  certain 
accomplishment  of  that  monomaniac  thought  of  his  soul. 

Now,  to  any  one  not  fully  acquainted  with  the  ways  of  the 
leviathans,  it  might  seem  an  absurdly  hopeless  task  thus  to  seek 
out  one  solitary  creature  in  the  unhooped  oceans  of  this  planet. 
But  not  so  did  it  seem  to  Ahab,  who  knew  the  sets  of  all  tides 
and  cm-rents ;  and  thereby  calculating  the  driftings  of  the  sperm 
whale's  food  ;  and,  also,  calling  to  mind  the  regular,  ascertained 
seasons  for  hunting  him  in  particular  latitudes  ;  could  arrive  at 
reasonable  surmises,  almost  approaching  to  certainties,  concern- 
ing the  timeliest  day  to  be  upon  this  or  that  ground  in  search 
of  his  prey. 

So  assured,  indeed,  is  the  fact  concerning  the  periodicalnesa 


220  THE    CHART. 


of  the  sperm  whale's  resorting  to  given  waters,  that  many- 
hunters  helieve  that,  could  he  be  closely  observed  and  studied 
throughout  the  world  ;  were  the  logs  for  one  voyage  of  the  entire 
whale  fleet  carefully  collated,  then  the  migrations  of  the  sperm 
whale  would  be  found  to  correspond  in  invariability  to  those  of 
the  herring-shoals  or  the  flights  of  swallows.  On  this  hint, 
attempts  have  been  made  to  construct  elaborate  migratory 
charts  of  the  sperm  whale.* 

Besides,  when  making  a  passage  from  one  feeding-ground  to 
another,  the  sperm  whales,  guided  by  some  infallible  instinct — 
say,  rather,  secret  intelligence  from  the  Deity — mostly  swim  in 
veins,  as  they  are  called ;  continuing  their  way  along  a  given 
ocean-line  with  such  undeviating  exactitude,  that  no  ship  ever 
sailed  her  course,  by  any  chart,  with  one  tithe  of  such  marvellous 
precision.  Though,  in  these  cases,  the  direction  taken  by  any  one 
whale  be  straight  as  a  surveyor's  parallel,  and  though  the  line  of 
advance  be  strictly  confined  to  its  own  unavoidable,  straight 
wake,  yet  the  arbitrary  vein  in  which  at  these  times  he 
is  said  to  swim,  generally  embraces  some  few  miles  in  width 
(more  or  less,  as  the  vein  is  presumed  to  expand  or  contract) ; 
but  never  exceeds  the  visual  sweep  from  the  whale-ship's 
mast-heads,  when  circumspectly  gliding  along  this  magic  zone. 
The  sum  is,  that  at  particular  seasons  within  that  breadth  and 


*  Since  the  above  was  written,  the  statement  is  happily  borne  out  by 
an  official  circular,  issued  by  Lieutenant  Maury,  of  the  National  Observa- 
tory, Washington,  April  16th,  1851.  By  that  circular,  it  appears  that 
precisely  such  a  chart  is  in  course  of  completion  ;  and  portions  of  it  are 
presented  in  the  circular.  "  This  chart  divides  the  ocean  into  districts  ol 
five  degrees  of  latitude  by  five  degrees  of  longitude ;  perpendicularly 
through* each  of  which  districts  are  twelve  columns  for  the  twelve 
months ;  and  horizontally  through  each  of  which  districts  are  three  lines ; 
one  to  show  the  number  of  days  that  have  been  spent  in  each  month  in 
every  district,  and  the  two  others  to  show  the  number  of  days  in  which 
whales,  sperm  or  right,  have  been  seen." 


THE    CHART.  221 


along  that  path,  migrating  whales  may  with  great  confidence 
he  looked  for. 

And  hence  not  only  at  substantiated  times,  upon  well  known  se- 
parate feeding-grounds,  could  Ahab  hope  to  encounter  his  prey ; 
but  incrossing  the  widest  expanses  of  water  between  those  grounds 
he  could,  by  his  art,  so  place  and  time  himself  on  his  way,  as 
even  then  not  to  be  wholly  without  prospect  of  a  meeting. 

There  was  a  circumstance  which  at  first  sight  seemed  to  en- 
tangle his  delirious  but  still  methodical  scheme.  But  not  so  in 
the  reality,  perhaps.  Though  the  gregarious  sperm  whales  have 
their  regular  seasons  for  particular  grounds,  yet  in  general  you 
cannot  conclude  that  the  herds  which  haunted  such  and  such  a 
latitude  or  longitude  this  year,  say,  will  turn  out  to  be  identi- 
cally the  same  with  those  that  were  found  there  the  preceding 
season  ;  though  there  ai-e  peculiar  and  unquestionable  instances 
where  the  contrary  of  this  has  proved  true.  In  general,  the 
same  remark,  only  within  a  less  wide  limit,  applies  to  the  solita- 
ries and  hermits  among  the  matured,  aged  sperm  whales.  So 
that  though  Moby  Dick  had  in  a  former  year  been  seen,  for  ex- 
ample, on  what  is  called  the  Seychelle  ground  in  the  Indian 
ocean,  or  Volcano  Bay  on  the  Japanese  Coast ;  yet  it  did  not 
follow,  that  were  the  Pequod  to  visit  either  of  those  spots  at  any 
subsequent  corresponding  season,  she  would  infallibly  encounter 
him  there.  So,  too,  with  some  other  feeding  grounds,  where  he 
had  at  times  revealed  himself.  But  all  these  seemed  only  his 
casual  stopping-places  and  ocean-inns,  so  to  speak,  not  his  places 
of  prolonged  abode.  And  where  Ahab's  chances  of  ac- 
complishing his  object  have  hitherto  been  spoken  of,  allusion 
has  only  been  made  to  whatever  way-side,  antecedent,  extra 
prospects  were  his,  ere  a  particular  set-  time  or  place  were  at- 
tained, when  all  possibilities  would  become  probabilities,  and, 
as  Ahab  fondly  thought,  every  possibility  the  next  thing  to  a 
certainty.  That  particular  set  time  and  place  were  conjoined  in 
the  one  technical  phrase — the  Season-on-the-Line.      For  there 


222  THECHART. 


and  then,  for  several  consecutive  years,  Moby  Dick  had  been 
periodically  descried,  lingering  in  those  waters  for  awhile,  as  the 
sun,  in  its  annual  round,  loiters  for  a  predicted  interval  in  any 
one  sign  of  the  Zodiac.  There  it  was,  too,  that  most  of  the 
deadly  encounters  with  the  white  whale  had  taken  place  ;  there 
the  waves  were  storied  with  his  deeds ;  there  also  was  that  tragic 
spot  where  the  monomaniac  old  man  had  found  the  awful  mo- 
tive to  his  vengeance.  But  in  the  cautious  comprehensiveness 
and  unloitering  vigilance  with  which  Ahab  threw  his  brooding 
soul  into  this  unfaltering  hunt,  he  would  not  permit  himself  to 
rest  all  his  hopes  upon  the  one  crowning  fact  above  mentioned, 
however  flattering  it  might  be  to  those  hopes  ;  nor  in  the  sleep- 
lessness of  his  vow  could  he  so  tranquillize  his  unquiet  heart  as 
to  postpone  all  intervening  quest. 

Now,  the  Pequod  had  sailed  from  Nantucket  at  the  very  be- 
ginning of  the  Season-on-the-Line.  No  possible  endeavor  then 
could  enable  her  commander  to  make  the  great  passage  south- 
wards, double  Cape  Horn,  and  then  running  down  sixty  degrees 
of  latitude  arrive  in  the  equatorial  Pacific  in  time  to  cruise  there. 
Therefore,  he  must  wait  for  the  next  ensuing  season.  Yet  the 
premature  hour  of  the  Pequod's  sailing  had,  perhaps,  been  cor- 
rectly selected  by  Ahab,  with  a  view  to  this  very  complexion  of 
things.  Because,  an  interval  of  three  hundred  and  sixty-five 
days  and  nights  was  before  him ;  an  interval  which,  instead  of 
impatiently  enduring  ashore,  he  would  spend  in  a  miscellaneous 
hunt ;  if  by  chance  the  White  Whale,  spending  his  vacation  in 
seas  far  remote  from  his  periodical  feeding-grounds,  should  turn 
up  his  wrinkled  brow  off  the  Persian  Gulf,  or  in  the  Bengal 
Bay,  or  China  Seas,  or  in  any  other  waters  haunted  by  his  race. 
So  that  Monsoons,  Pampas,  Nor- Westers,  Harmattans,  Trades  ; 
any  wind  but  the  Levanter  and  Simoom,  might  blow  Moby  Dick 
into  the  devious  zig-zag  world-circle  of  the  Pequod's  circumnavi- 
gating wake. 

But  granting  all  this ;  yet,  regarded  discreetly  and  coolly, 


THE    CHART.  223 


seems  it  not  but  a  mad  idea,  this  ;  that  in  the  broad  boundless 
ocean,  one  solitary  whale,  even  if  encountered,  should  be  thought 
capable  of  individual  recognition  from  his  hunter,  even  as  a 
white-bearded  Mufti  in  the  thronged  thoroughfares  of  Constanti- 
nople ?  Yes.  For  the  peculiar  snow-white  brow  of  Moby  Dick, 
and  his  snow-white  hump,  could  not  but  be  unmistakable.  And 
have  I  not  tallied  the  whale,  Ahab  would  mutter  to  himself,  as 
after  poring  over  his  charts  till  long  after  midnight  he  would 
throw  himself  back  in  reveries — tallied  him,  and  shall  he 
escape  ?  His  broad  fins  are  bored,  and  scalloped  out  like  a 
lost  sheep's  ear !  And  here,  his  mad  mind  would  run  on  in  a 
breathless  race ;  till  a  weariness  and  faintness  of  pondering 
came  over  him ;  and  in  the  open  air  of  the  deck  he  would  seek 
to  recover  his  strength.  Ah,  God!  what  trances  of  torments 
does  that  man  endure  who  is  consumed  with  one  unachieved  re- 
vengeful desire.  He  sleeps  with  clenched  hands ;  and  wakes 
with  his  own  bloody  nails  in  his  palms. 

Often,  when  forced  from  his  hammock  by  exhausting  and 
intolerably  vivid  dreams  of  the  night,  which,  resuming  his  own 
intense  thoughts  through  the  day,  carried  them  on  amid  a  clash- 
ing of  phrensies,  and  whirled  them  round  and  round  in  his 
blazing  brain,  till  the  very  throbbing  of  his  life-spot  became 
insufferable  anguish ;  and  when,  as  was  sometimes  the  case, 
these  spiritual  throes  in  him  heaved  his  being  up  from  its  base, 
and  a  chasm  seemed  opening  in  him,  from  which  forked  flames 
and  lightnings  shot  up,  and  accursed  fiends  beckoned  him  to 
leap  down  among  them;  when  this  hell  in  himself  yawned 
beneath  him,  a  wild  cry  would  be  heard  through  the  ship ;  and 
with  glaring  eyes  Ahab  would  burst  from  his  state  room,  as 
though  escaping  from  a  bed  that  was  on  fire.  Yet  these,  per- 
haps, instead  of  being  the  unsuppressable  symptoms  of  some  latent 
weakness,  or  fright  at  his  own  resolve,  were  but  the  plainest  tokens 
of  its  intensity.  For,  at  such  times,  crazy  Ahab,  the  scheming, 
unappeasedly  steadfast  hunter  of  the  white  whale  ;  this  Ahab 


224  THE    AFFIDAVIT. 

that  had  gone  to  his  hammock,  was  not  the  agent  that  so  caused 
him  to  burst  from  it  in  horror  again.  The  latter  was  the  eternal, 
living  principle  or  soul  in  him  ;  and  in  sleep,  being  for  the  time 
dissociated  from  the  characterizing  mind,  which  at  other  times 
employed  it  for  its  outer  vehicle  or  agent,  it  spontaneously 
sought  escape  from  the  scorching  contiguity  of  the  frantic 
thing,  of  which,  for  the  time,  it  was  no  longer  an  integral.  But 
as  the  mind  does  not  exist  unless  leagued  with  the  soul,  there- 
fore it  must  have  been  that,  in  Ahab's  case,  yielding  up  all  his 
thoughts  and  fancies  to  his  one  supreme  purpose  ;  that  purpose, 
by  its  own  sheer  inveteracy  of  will,  forced  itself  against  gods 
and  devils  into  a  kind  of  self-assumed,  independent  being  of 
its  own.  Nay,  could  grimly  live  and  burn,  while  the  common 
vitality  to  which  it  was  conjoined,  fled  horror-stricken  from  the 
unbidden  and  unfathered  birth.  Therefore,  the  tormented 
spirit  that  glared  out  of  bodily  eyes,  when  what  seemed  Ahab 
rushed  from  his  room,  was  for  the  time  but  a  vacated  thing,  a 
formless  somnambulistic  being,  a  ray  of  living  light,  to  be  sure, 
but  without  an  object  to  color,  and  therefore  a  blankness  in 
itself.  God  help  thee,  old  man,  thy  thoughts  have  created  a 
creature  in  thee ;  and  he  whose  intense  thinking  thus  makes 
him  a  Prometheus ;  a  vulture  feeds  upon  that  heart  for  ever ; 
that  vulture  the  very  creature  he  creates. 


CHAPTER  XLV. 

THE    AFFIDAVIT. 


So  far  as  what  there  may  be  of  a  narrative  in  this  book ;  and, 
indeed,  as  indirectly  touching  one  or  two  very  interesting  and 
curious  particulars  in  the  habits  of  sperm  whales,  the  foregoing 
chapter,  in  its  earlier  part,  is  as  important  a  one  as  will  be 


THE    AFFIDAVIT.  225 

found  in  this  volume ;  but  the  leading  matter  of  it  requires  to 
be  still  further  and  more  familiarly  enlarged  upon,  in  order  to 
be  adequately  understood,  and  moreover  to  take  away  any  in- 
credulity which  a  profound  ignorance  of  the  entire  subject  may 
induce  in  some  minds,  as  to  the  natural  verity  of  the  main 
points  of  this  affair. 

I  care  not  to  perform  this  part  of  my  task  methodically ;  but 
shall  be  content  to  produce  the  desired  impression  by  separate 
citations  of  items,  practically  or  reliably  known  to  me  as  a 
whaleman  ;  and  from  these  citations,  I  take  it — the  conclusion 
aimed  at  will  naturally  follow  of  itself. 

First:  I  have  personally  known  three  instances  where  a 
( whale,  after  receiving  a  harpoon,  has  effected  a  complete  escape ; 
and,  after  an  interval  (in  one  instance  of  three  years),  has  been 
again  struck  by  the  same  hand,  and  slain ;  when  the  two  irons, 
both  marked  by  the  same  private  cypher,  have  been  taken  from 
the  body.  In  the  instance  where  three  years  intervened 
between  the  flinging  of  the  two  harpoons  ;  and  I  think  it  may 
have  been  something  more  than  that;  the  man  who  darted 
them  happening,  in  the  interval,  to  go  in  a  trading  ship  on  a 
voyage  to  Africa,  went  ashore  thei'e,  joined  a  discovery  party, 
and  penetrated  far  into  the  interior,  where  he  travelled  for  a 
period  of  nearly  two  years,  often  endangered  by  serpents,  savages, 
tigers,  poisonous  miasmas,  with  all  the  other  common  perils  inci- 
dent to  wandering  in  the  heart  of  unknown  regions.  Mean- 
while, the  whale  he  had  struck  must  also  have  been  on  its 
travels;  no  doubt  it  had  thrice  circumnavigated  the  globe, 
brushing  with  its  flanks  all  the  coasts  of  Africa;  but  to  no 
purpose.  This  man  and  this  whale  again  came  together,  and 
the  one  vanquished  the  other.  I  say  I,  myself,  have  known 
three  instances  similar  to  this ;  that  is  in  two  of  them  I  saw 
the  whales  struck  ;  and,  upon  the  second  attack,  saw  the  two 
irons  with  the  respective  marks  cut  in  them,  afterwards  taken 
from  the  dead  fish.     In  the  three-year  instance,  it  so  fell  out 

10* 


226  THE    AFFIDAVIT. 

that  I  was  in  the  boat  both  times,  first  and  last,  and  the  last 
time  distinctly  recognized  a  peculiar  sort  of  huge  mole  under 
the  whale's  eye,  which  I  had  observed  there  three  years  pre- 
vious. I  say  three  years,  but  I  am  pretty  sure  it  was  more  than 
that.  Here  are  three  instances,  then,  which  I  personally  know 
the  truth  of;  but  I  have  heard  of  many  other  instances  from 
persons  whose  veracity  in  the  matter  there  is  no  good  ground 
to  impeach. 

Secondly :  It  is  well  known  in  the  Sperm  Whale  Fishery, 
however  ignorant  the  world  ashore  may  be  of  it,  that  there  have 
been  several  memorable  historical  instances  where  a  particular 
whale  in  the  ocean  has  been  at  distant  times  and  places  popu- 
larly cognisable.  Why  such  a  whale  became  thus  marked  was 
not  altogether  and  originally  owing  to  his  bodily  peculiarities  as 
distinguished  from  other  whales  ;  for  however  peculiar  in  that 
respect  any  chance  whale  may  be,  they  soon  put  an  end  to  his 
peculiarities  by  killing  him,  and  boiling  him  down  into  a  pecu- 
liarly valuable  oil.  No  :  the  reason  was  this :  that  from  the 
fatal  experiences  of  the  fishery  there  hung  a  terrible  prestige  of 
perilousness  about  such  a  whale  as  there  did  about  Rinaldo 
Rinaldini,  insomuch  that  most  fishermen  were  content  to  recog- 
nise him  by  merely  touching  their  tarpaulins  when  he  would  be 
discovered  lounging  by  them  on  the  sea,  without  seeking  to  cul- 
tivate a  more  intimate  acquaintance.  Like  some  poor  devils 
ashore  that  happen  to  know  an  irascible  great  man,  they  make 
distant  unobtrusive  salutations  to  him  in  the  street,  lest  if  they 
pursued  the  acquaintance  further,  they  might  receive  a  summaiy 
thump  for  their  presumption. 

But  not  only  did  each  of  these  famous  whales  enjoy  great 
individual  celebrity — nay,  you  may  call  it  an  ocean- wide  renown ; 
not  only  was  he  famous  in  life  and  now  is  immortal  in  forecastle 
stories  after  death,  but  he  was  admitted  into  all  the  rights,  privi- 
leges, and  distinctions  of  a  name  ;  had  as  much  a  name  indeed  as 
Cambyses  or  Caesar.     Was  it  not  so,  O  Timor  Tom !  thou  famed 


THE    AFFIDAVIT.  227 

leviathan,  scarred  like  an  iceberg,  who  so  long  did'st  lurk  in  the 
Oriental  straits  of  that  name,  whose  spout  was  oft  seen  from 
.  the  palmy  beach  of  Ombay  ?  Was  it  not  so,  O  New  Zealand 
Jack  !  thou  terror  of  all  cruisers  that  crossed  their  wakes  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  Tattoo  Land  ?  Was  it  not  so,  0  Morquan  ! 
King  of  Japan,  whose  lofty  jet  they  say  at  times  assumed  the 
semblance  of  a  snow-white  cross  against  the  sky  ?  Was  it  not 
so,  O  Don  Miguel !  thou  Chilian  whale,  marked  like  an  old 
tortoise  with  mystic  hieroglyphics  upon  the  back !  In  plain 
prose,  here  are  four  whales  as  well  known  to  the  students  of 
Cetacean  History  as  Marius  or  Sylla  to  the  classic  scholar. 

But  this  is  not  all.  New  Zealand  Tom  and  Don  Miguel,  after 
at  various  times  creating  great  havoc  among  the  boats  of  dif- 
ferent vessels,  were  finally  gone  in  quest  of,  systematically  hunted 
out,  chased  and  killed  by  valiant  whaling  captains,  who  heaved 
up  their  anchors  with  that  express  object  as  much  in  view,  as 
in  setting  out  through  the  Narragansett  Woods,  Captain 
Butler  of  old  had  it  in  his  mind  to  capture  that  notorious  mur- 
derous savage  Annawon,  the  headmost  warrior  of  the  Indian 
King  Philip. 

I  do  not  know  where  I  can  find  a  better  place  than  just  here, 
to  make  mention  of  one  or  two  other  things,  which  to  me  seem 
important,  as  in  printed  form  establishing  in  all  respects  the  rea- 
sonableness of  the  whole  story  of  the  White  Whale,  more  es- 
pecially the  catastrophe.  For  this  is  one  of  those  disheartening 
instances  where  truth  requires  full  as  much  bolstering  as  error. 
So  ignorant  are  most  landsmen  of  some  of  the  plainest  and 
most  palpable  wonders  of  the  world,  that  without  some  hints 
touching  the  plain  facts,  historical  and  otherwise,  of  the  fishery, 
they  might  scout  at  Moby  Dick  as  a  monstrous  fable,  or  still 
worse  and  more  detestable,  a  hideous  and  intolerable  allegory. 

First:  Though  most  men  have  some  vague  flitting  ideas  of  the 
general  perils  of  the  grand  fishery,  yet  they  have  nothing  like  a 
fixed,  vivid  conception  of  those  perils,  and  the  frequency  with 


228  THE    AFFIDAVIT. 

■which  they  recur.  One  reason  perhaps  is,  that  not  one  in  fifty 
of  the  actual  disasters  and  deaths  by  casualties  in  the  fishery, 
ever  finds  a  public  record  at  home,  however  transient  and  imme- 
diately forgotten  that  record.  Do  you  suppose  that  that  poor 
fellow  there,  who  this  moment  perhaps  caught  by  the  whale- 
line  off  the  coast  of  New  Guinea,  is.  being  carried  down  to  the 
bottom  of  the  sea  by  the  sounding  leviathan— do  you  suppose 
that  that  poor  fellow's  name  will  appear  in  the  newspaper  obi- 
tuary you  will  read  to-morrow  at  your  breakfast  ?  No :  because 
the  mails  are  very  irregular  between  here  and  New  Guinea.  In 
fact,  did  you  ever  hear  what  might  be  called  regular  news  direct 
or  indirect  from  New  Guinea  ?  Yet  I  tell  you  that  upon  one 
particular  voyage  which  I  made  to  the  Pacific,  among  many 
others  we  spoke  thirty  different  ships,  every  one  of  which  had 
had  a  death  by  a  whale,  some  of  them  more  than  one,  and 
three  that  had  each  lost  a  boat's  crew.  For  God's  sake,  be  eco- 
nomical with  your  lamps  and  candles  !  not  a  gallon  you  burn, 
but  at  least  one  drop  of  man's  blood  was  spilled  for  it. 

Secondly  :  People  ashore  have  indeed  some  indefinite  idea 
that  a  whale  is  an  enormous  creature  of  enormous  power ;  but  I 
have  ever  found  that  when  narrating  to  them  some  specific  ex- 
ample of  this  two-fold  enormousness,  they  have  significantly 
complimented  me  upon  my  facetiousness  ;  when,  I  declare  upon 
my  soul,  I  had  no  more  idea  of  being  facetious  than  Moses, 
when  he  wrote  the  history  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt. 

But  fortunately  the  special  point  I  here  seek  can  be 
established  upon  testimony  entirely  independent  of  my  own. 
That  point  is  this  :  The  Sperm  Whale  is  in  some  cases  suffi- 
ciently powerful,  knowing,  and  judiciously  malicious,  as  with 
direct  aforethought  to  stave  in,  utterly  destroy,  and  sink  a  large 
ship  ;  and  what  is  more,  the  Sperm  Whale  has  done  it. 

First :  In  the  year  1820  the  ship  Essex,  Captain  Pollard,  of 
Nantucket,  was  cruising  in  the  Pacific  Ocean.  One  day  she 
saw  spouts,  lowered  her  boats,  and  gave  chase  to  a  shqaj  of 


THE    AFFIDAVIT.  229 


sperm  whales.  Ere  long,  several  of  the  whales  were  wounded  ; 
when,  suddenly,  a  very  large  whale  escaping  from  the  boats, 
issued  from  the  shoal,  and  bore  directly  down  upon  the  ship. 
Dashing  his  forehead  against  her  hull,  he  so  stove  her  in,  that 
in  less  than  "  ten  minutes"  she  settled  down  and  fell  over.  Not 
a  surviving  plank  of  her  has  been  seen  since.  After  the  severest 
exposure,  part  of  the  crew  reached  the  land  in  their  boats. 
Being  returned  home  at  last,  Captain  Pollard  once  more  sailed 
for  the  Pacific  in  command  of  another  ship,  but  the  gods  ship- 
wrecked him  again  upon  unknown  rocks  and  breakers ;  for  the 
second  time  his  ship  was  utterly  lost,  and  forthwith  forswearing 
the  sea,  he  has  never  tempted  it  since.  At  this  day  Captain 
Pollard  is  a  resident  of  Nantucket.  I  have  seen  Owen  Chace, 
who  was  chief  mate  of  the  Essex  at  the  time  of  the  tragedy ; 
I  have  read  his  plain  and  faithful  narrative ;  I  have  conversed 
with  his  son ;  and  all  this  within  a  few  miles  of  the  scene  of  the 
catastrophe.* 

*  The  following  are  extracts  from  Chaee's  narrative :  "  Every  fact 
eeemed  to  warrant  me  in  concluding  that  it  wag  anything  but  chance 
which  directed  his  operations ;  he  made  two  several  attacks  upon  the 
ship,  at  a  short  interval  between  them,  both  of  which,  according  to  their 
direction,  were  calculated  to  do  us  the  most  injury,  by  being  made  ahead, 
and  thereby  combining  the  speed  of  the  two  objects  for  the  shock ;  to 
effect  which,  the  exact  manoeuvres  which  he  made  were  necessary.  His 
aspect  was  most  horrible,  and  such  as  indicated  resentment  and  fury.  He 
came  directly  from  the  shoal  which  we  had  just  before  entered,  and  in  which 
we  had  struck  three  of  his  companions,  as  if  fired  with  revenge  for  their  suf- 
ferings." Again :  "  At  all  events,  the  whole  circumstances  taken  together, 
all  happening  before  my  own  eyes,  and  producing,  at  the  time,  impressions 
in  my  mind  of  decided,  calculating  mischief,  on  the  part  of  the  whale 
(many  of  which  impressions  I  cannot  now  recall),  induce  me  to  be  satis- 
fied that  I  am  correct  in  my  opinion." 

Here  are  his  reflections  sometime  after  quitting  the  ship,  during  a  black 
night  in  an  open  boat,  when  almost  despairing  of  reaching  any  hospitable 
shore.  "  The  dark  ocean  and  swelling  waters  were  nothing  ;  the  fears  of 
being  swallowed  up  by  some  dreadful  tempest,  or  dashed  upon  hidden 


230  THE    AFFIDAVIT. 

Secondly  :  The  ship  Union,  also  of  Nantucket,  was  in  the 
year  180*7  totally  lost  off  the  Azores  by  a  similar  onset,  but  the 
authentic  particulars  of  this  catastrophe  I  have  never  chanced 
to  encounter,  though  from  the  whale  hunters  I  have  now  and 
then  heard  casual  allusions  to  it. 

Thirdly :  Some   eighteen  or  twenty  years  ago  Commodore 

J then  commanding  an  American  sloop-of-war  of  the  first 

class,  happened  to  be  dining  with  a  party  of  whaling  captains, 
on  board  a  Nantucket  ship  in  the  harbor  of  Oahu,  Sandwich 
Islands.  Conversation  turning  upon  whales,  the  Commodore 
was  pleased  to  be  sceptical  touching  the  amazing  strength 
ascribed  to  them  by  the  professional  gentlemen  present.  He 
peremptorily  denied  for  example,  that  any  whale  could  so  smite  his 
stout  sloop-of-war  as  to  cause  her  to  leak  so  much  as  a  thimble- 
ful. Very  good ;  but  there  is  more  coming.  Some  weeks 
after,  the  commodore  set  sail  in  this  impregnable  craft  for  Val- 
paraiso. But  he  was  stopped  on  the  way  by  a  portly  sperm 
whale,  that  begged  a  few  moments'  confidential  business  with 
him.  That  business  consisted  in  fetching  the  Commodore's 
craft  such  a  thwack,  that  with  all  his  pumps  going  he  made 
straight  for  the  nearest  port  to  heave  down  and  repair.  I  am 
not  superstitious,  but  I  consider  the  Commodore's  interview  with 
that  whale  as  providential.  Was  not  Saul  of  Tarsus  converted 
from  unbelief  by  a  similar  fright  ?  I  tell  you,  the  sperm  whale 
will  stand  no  nonsense. 


rocks,  with  all  the  other  ordinary  subjects  of  fearful  contemplation, 
seemed  scarcely  entitled  to  a  moment's  thought ;  the  dismal  looking 
wreck,  and  the  horrid  aspect  and  revenge  of  the  whale,  wholly  engrossed 
my  reflections,  until  day  again  made  its  appearance." 

In  another  place — p.  45, — he  speaks  of  "  the  mysterious  and  mortal 
attack  of  the  animal." 

*****  **  * 

*#***  **  * 


THE    AFFIDAVIT.  231 

I  will  now  refer  you  to  Langsdorff's  Voyages  for  a  little  cir- 
cumstance in  point,  peculiarly  interesting  to  the  writer  hereof. 
Langsdorff,  you  must  know  by  the  way,  was  attached  to  the 
Russian  Admiral  Krusenstern's  famous  Discovery  Expedition  in 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century.  Captain  Langsdorff  thus 
begins  his  seventeenth  chapter. 

"  By  the  thirteenth  of  May  our  ship  was  ready  to  sail,  and 
the  next  day  we  were  out  in  the  open  sea,  on  our  way  to 
Ochotsh.  The  weather  was  very  clear  and  fine,  but  so  intolera- 
bly cold  that  we  were  obliged  to  keep  on  our  fur  clothing.  For 
some  days  we  had  very  little  wind ;  it  was  not  till  the  nine- 
teenth that  a  brisk  gale  from  the  northwest  sprang  up.  An 
uncommon  large  whale,  the  body  of  which  was  larger  than  the 
ship  itself,  lay  almost  at  the  surface  of  the  water,  but  was  not 
perceived  by  any  one  on  board  till  the  moment  when  the  ship, 
which  was  in  full  sail,  was  almost  upon  him,  so  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  prevent  its  striking  against  him.  We  were  thus 
placed  in  the  most  imminent  danger,  as  this  gigantic  ci-eature, 
setting  up  its  back,  raised  the  ship  three  feet  at  least  out  of  the 
water.  The  masts  reeled,  and  the  sails  fell  altogether,  while  we 
who  were  below  all  sprang  instantly  upon  the  deck,  concluding 
that  we  had  struck  upon  some  rock ;  instead  of  this  we  saw  the 
monster  sailing  off  with  the  utmost  gravity  and  solemnity. 
Captain  D'Wolf  applied  immediately  to  the  pumps  to  examine 
whether  or  not  the  vessel  had  received  any  damage  from  the 
shock,  but  we  found  that  very  happily  it  had  escaped  entirely 
uninjured." 

Now,  the  Captain  D'Wolf  here  alluded  to  as  commanding 
the  ship  in  question,  is  a  New  Englander,  who,  after  a  long  life 
of  unusual  adventures  as  a  sea-captain,  this  day  resides  in  the 
village  of  Dorchester  near  Boston.  I  have  the  honor  of  being 
a  nephew  of  his.  I  have  particularly  questioned  him  concern- 
ing this  passage  in  Langsdorff.  He  substantiates  every  word. 
The  ship,  however,  was  by  no  means  a  large  one :  a  Russian 


232  THE    AFFIDAVIT. 

craft  built  on  the  Siberian  coast,  and  purchased  by  my  uncle 
after  bartering  away  the  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  from  home. 

In  that  up  and  down  manly  book  of  old-fashioned  adventure, 
so  full,  too,  of  honest  wonders — the  voyage  of  Lionel  Wafer, 
one  of  ancient  Dampier's  old  chums — I  found  a  little  matter 
set  down  so  like  that  just  quoted  from  Langsdorff,  that  I  cannot 
forbear  inserting  it  here  for  a  corroborative  example,  if  such  be 
needed. 

Lionel,  it  seems,  was  on  his  way  to  "  John  Ferdinando,"  as 
he  calls  the  modern  Juan  Fernandes.  "  In  our  way  thither,"  he 
says,  "  about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  when  we  were  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  leagues  from  the  Main  of  America, 
our  ship  felt  a  terrible  shock,  which  put  our  men  in  such  con- 
sternation that  they  could  hardly  tell  where  they  were  or  what 
to  think ;  but  every  one  began  to  prepare  for  death.  And, 
indeed,  the  shock  was  so  sudden  and  violent,  that  we  took  it 
for  granted  the  ship  had  struck  against  a  rock  ;  but  when  the 
amazement  was  a  little  over,  we  cast  the  lead,  and  sounded,  but 
found  no  ground.  ***** 

The  suddenness  of  the  shock  made  the  guns  leap  in  their 
carriages,  and  several  of  the  men  were  shaken  out  of  their  ham- 
mocks. Captain  Davis,  who  lay  with  his  head  on  a  gun,  was 
thrown  out  of  his  cabin !"  Lionel  then  goes  on  to  impute  the 
shock  to  an  earthquake,  and  seems  to  substantiate  the  imputa- 
tion by  stating  that  a  great  earthquake,  somewhere  about  that 
time,  did  actually  do  great  mischief  along  the  Spanish  land. 
But  I  should  not  much  wonder  if,  in  the  darkness  of  that  early 
hour  of  the  morning,  the  shock  was  after  all  caused  by  an  un- 
seen whale  vertically  bumping  the  hull  from  beneath. 

I  might  proceed  with  several  more  examples,  one  way  or 
another  known  to  me,  of  the  great  power  and  malice  at  times 
of  the  sperm  whale.  In  more  than  one  instance,  he  has  been 
known,  not  only  to  chase  the  assailing  boats  back  to  their  ships, 
but  to  pursue  the  ship  itself,  and  long  withstand  all  the  lances 


THE    AFFIDAVIT.  233 

hurled  at  him  from  its  decks.  The  English  ship  Pusie  Hall 
can  tell  a  story  on  that  head  ;  and,  as  for  his  strength,  let  me 
say,  that  there  have  heen  examples  where  the  lines  attached  to 
a  running  sperm  whale  have,  in  a  calm,  heen  transferred  to  the 
ship,  and  secured  there ;  the  whale  towing  her  great  hull 
through  the  water,  as  a  horse  walks  off  with  a  cart.  Again,  it 
is  very  often  observed  that,  if  the  sperm  whale,  once  struck,  is 
allowed  time  to  rally,  he  then  acts,  not  so  often  with  blind  rage, 
as  with  wilful,  deliberate  designs  of  destruction  to  his  pursuers ; 
nor  is  it  without  conveying  some  eloquent  indication  of  his  cha- 
racter, that  upon  being  attacked  he  will  frequently  open  his 
mouth,  and  retain  it  in  that  dread  expansion  for  several  consecu- 
tive minutes.  But  I  must  be  content  with  only  one  more  and 
a  concluding  illustration ;  a  remarkable  and  most  significant 
one,  by  which  you  will  not  fail  to  see,  that  not  only  is  the  most 
marvellous  event  in  this  book  corroborated  by  plain  facts  of  the 
present  day,  but  that  these  marvels  (like  all  marvels)  are  mere 
repetitions  of  the  ages ;  so  that  for  the  millionth  time  we  say 
amen  with  Solomon — Verily  there  is  nothing  new  under  the 
sun. 

In  the  sixth  Christian  century  lived  Procopius,  a  Christian 
magistrate  of  Constantinople,  in  the  days  when  Justinian  was 
Emperor  and  Belisarius  general.  As  many  know,  he  wrote  the 
history  of  his  own  times,  a  work  every  way  of  uncommon 
value.  By  the  best  authorities,  he  has  always  been  considered 
a  most  trustworthy  and  unexaggerating  historian,  except  in 
some  one  or  two  particulars,  not  at  all  affecting  the  matter  pre- 
sently to  be  mentioned. 

Now,  in  this  history  of  his,  Procopius  mentions  that,  during 
the  term  of  his  prefecture  at  Constantinople,  a  great  sea-monster 
was  captured  in  the  neighboring  Propontis,  or  Sea  of  Marmora, 
after  having  destroyed  vessels  at  intervals  in  those  waters  for  a 
period  of  more  than  fifty  years.  A  fact  thus  set  down  in  sub- 
stantial history  cannot  easily  be  gainsaid.    Nor  is  there  any 


234  SURMISES. 


reason  it  should  be.  Of  what  precise  species  this  sea-monster 
was,  is  not  mentioned.  But  as  he  destroyed  ships,  as  well  as 
for  other  reasons,  he  must  have  been  a  whale ;  and  I  am 
strongly  inclined  to  think  a  sperm  whale.  And  I  will  tell  you 
why.  For  a  long  time  I  fancied  that  the  sperm  whale  had 
been  always  unknown  in  the  Mediterranean  and  the  deep  waters 
connecting  with  it.  Even  now  I  am  certain  that  those  seas  are  not, 
and  perhaps  never  can  be,  in  the  present  constitution  of  things, 
a  place  for  his  habitual  gregarious  resort.  But  further  investiga- 
tions have  recently  proved  to  me,  that  in  modern  times  there 
have  been  isolated  instances  of  the  presence  of  the  sperm 
whale  in  the  Mediterranean.  I  am  told,  on  good  authority, 
that  on  the  Barbaiy  coast,  a  Commodore  Davis  of  the  British 
navy  found  the  skeleton  of  a  sperm  whale.  Now,  as  a  vessel 
of  war  readily  passes  through  the  Dardanelles,  hence  a  sperm 
whale  could,  by  the  same  route,  pass  out  of  the  Mediterranean 
into  the  Propontis. 

In  the  Propontis,  as  far  as  I  can  learn,  none  of  that  peculiar 
substance  called  brit  is  to  be  found,  the  aliment  of  the  right 
whale.  But  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  food  of 
the  sperm  whale — squid  or  cuttle-fish — lurks  at  the  bottom  of 
that  sea,  because  large  creatures,  but  by  no  means  the  largest  of 
that  sort,  have  been  found  at  its  surface.  If,  then,  you  properly 
put  these  statements  together,  and  reason  upon  them  a  bit,  you 
will  clearly  perceive  that,  according  to  all  human  reasoning, 
Procopius's  sea-monster,  that  for  half  a  century  stove  the  ships 
of  a  Roman  Emperor,  must  in  all  probability  have  been  a  sperm 
whale. 


CHAPTER  XLVL 

SURMISES. 

Though,  consumed  with  the  hot  fire  of  his  purpose,  Ahab  in 
all  his  thoughts  and  actions  ever  had  in  view  the  ultimate  cap- 


SURMISES.  935 


ture  of  Moby  Dick ;  though  he  seemed  ready  to  sacrifice  all 
mortal  interests  to  that  one  passion  ;  nevertheless  it  may  have 
been  that  he  was  by  nature  and  long  habituation  far  too  wedded 
to  a  fiery  whaleman's  ways,  altogether  to  abandon  the  collateral 
prosecution  of  the  Voyage.  Or  at  least  if  this  were  otherwise, 
there  were  not  wanting  other  motives  much  more  influential 
with  him.  It  would  be  refining  too  much,  perhaps,  even  con- 
sidering his  monomania,  to  hint  that  his  vindictiveness  towards 
the  White  Whale  might  have  possibly  extended  itself  in  some 
degree  to  all  sperm  whales,  and  that  the  more  monsters  he  slew 
by  so  much  the  more  he  multiplied  the  chances  that  each  sub- 
sequently encountered  whale  would  prove  to  be  the  hated  one 
he  hunted.  But  if  such  an  hypothesis  be  indeed  exceptionable 
there  were  still  additional  considerations  which,  though  not  so 
strictly  according  with  the  wildness  of  his  ruling  passion,  yet 
were  by  no  means  incapable  of  swaying  him. 

To  accomplish  his  object  Ahab  must  use  tools ;  and  of  all 
tools  used  in  the  shadow  of  the  moon,  men  are  most  apt  to  get 
out  of  order.  He  knew,  for  example,  that  however  magnetic  his 
ascendency  in  some  respects  was  over  Starbuck,  yet  that  as- 
cendency did  not  cover  the  complete  spiritual  man  any  more 
than  mere  corporeal  superiority  involves  intellectual  mastership ; 
for  to  the  purely  spiritual,  the  intellectual  but  stand  in  a  sort  of 
corporeal  relation.  Starbuck's  body  and  Starbuck's  coerced  will 
were  Ahab's,  so  long  as  Ahab  kept  his  magnet  at  Starbuck's 
brain  ;  still  he  knew  that  for  all  this  the  chief  mate,  in  his  soul, 
abhorred  his  captain's  quest,  and  could  he,  would  joyfully  dis- 
integrate himself  from  it,  or  even  frustrate  it.  It  might  be  that 
a  long  interval  would  elapse  ere  the  White  Whale  was  seen. 
During  that  long  interval  Starbuck  would  ever  be  apt  to  fall 
into  open  relapses  of  rebellion  against  his  captain's  leadership, 
unless  some  ordinary,  prudential,  circumstantial  influences  were 
brought  to  bear  upon  him.  Not  only  that,  but  the  subtle  in- 
sanity of  Ahab  respecting  Moby  Dick  was  noways  more  signifi- 


236  SURMISES, 


cantly  manifested  than  in  his  superlative  sense  and  shrewdness 
in  foreseeing  that,  for  the  present,  the  hunt  should  in  some  way 
be  stripped  of  that  strange  imaginative  impiousness  which  natur- 
ally invested  it ;  that  the  full  terror  of  the  voyage  must  be  kept 
withdrawn  into  the  obscure  background  (for  few  men's  courage 
is  proof  against  protracted  meditation  unrelieved  by  action) ; 
that  when  they  stood  their-  long  night  watches,  his  officers  and 
men  must  have  some  nearer  things  to  think  of  than  Moby  Dick. 
For  however  eagerly  and  impetuously  the  savage  crew  had 
hailed  the  announcement  of  his  quest ;  yet  all  sailors  of  all 
sorts  afe  more  or  less  capricious  and  unreliable — they  live  in 
the  varying  outer  weather,  and  they  inhale  its  fickleness — and 
when  retained  for  any  object  remote  and  blank  in  the  pur- 
suit, however  promissory  of  fife  and  passion  in  the  end,  it  is 
above  all  things  requisite  that  temporary  interests  and  employ- 
ments should  intervene  and  hold  them  healthily  suspended  for 
the  final  dash. 

Nor  was  Ahab  unmindful  of  another  thing.  In  times  of 
strong  emotion  mankind  disdain  all  base  considerations ;  but  such 
times  are  evanescent.  The  permanent  constitutional  condition 
of  the  manufactured  man,  thought  Ahab,  is  sordidness.  Grant- 
ing that  the  White  Whale  fully  incites  the  hearts  of  this  my 
savage  crew,  and  playing  round  their  savageness  even  breeds  a  cer- 
tain generous  knight-errantism  in  them,  still,  while  for  the  love  of 
it  they  give  chase  to  Moby  Dick,  they  must  also  have  food  for 
their  more  common,  daily  appetites.  For  even  the  high  lifted 
and  chivalric  Crusaders  of  old  times  were  not  content  to  tra- 
verse two  thousand  miles  of  land  to  fight  for  their  holy  sepulchre, 
without  committing  burglaries,  picking  pockets,  and  gaining 
other  pious  perquisites  by  the  way.  Had  they  been  strictly  held 
to  their  one  final  and  romantic  object — that  final  and  romantic 
object,  too  many  would  have  turned  from  in  disgust.  I  will 
not  strip  these  men,  thought  Ahab,  of  all  hopes  of  cash — aye, 
cash.    They  may  scorn  cash  now ;  but  let  some  months  go  by, 


THE    MAT-MAKER.  237 

and  no  perspective  promise  of  it  to  them,  and  then  this  same 
quiescent  cash  all  at  once  mutinying  in  them,  this  same  cash 
would  soon  cashier  Ahab. 

Nor  was  there  wanting  still  another  precautionary  motive 
more  related  to  Ahab  personally.  Having  impulsively,  it  is 
probable,  and  perhaps  somewhat  prematurely  revealed  the  prime 
but  private  purpose  of  the  Pequod's  voyage,  Ahab  was  now  en- 
tirely conscious  that,  in  so  doing,  he  had  indirectly  laid  himself 
open  to  the  unanswerable  charge  of  usurpation ;  and  with  perfect 
impunity,  both  moral  and  legal,  his  crew  if  so  disposed,  and  to 
that  end  competent,  could  refuse  all  further  obedience  to  him, 
and  even  violently  wrest  from  him  the  command.  From  even 
the  barely  hinted  imputation  of  usurpation,  and  the  possible 
consequences  of  such  a  suppressed  impression  gaining  ground, 
Ahab  must  of  course  have  been  most  anxious  to  protect  himself. 
That  protection  could  only  consist  in  his  own  predominating 
brain  and  heart  and  hand,  backed  by  a  heedful,  closely  calculat- 
ing attention  to  every  minute  atmospheric  influence  which  it  was 
possible  for  his  crew  to  be  subjected  to. 

For  all  these  reasons  then,  and  others  perhaps  too  analytic  to 
be  verbally  developed  here,  Ahab  plainly  saw  that  he  must  still 
in  a  good  degree  continue  true  to  the  natural,  nominal  purpose 
of  the  Pequod's  voyage  ;  observe  all  customary  usages ;  and  not 
only  that,  but  force  himself  to  evince  all  his  well  known  pas- 
sionate interest  in  the  general  pursuit  of  his  profession. 

Be  all  this  as  it  may,  his  voice  was  now  often  heard  hailing 
the  three  mast-heads  and  admonishing  them  to  keep  a  bright 
look-out,  and  not  omit  reporting  even  a  porpoise.  This  vigi- 
lance was  not  long  without  reward. 


CHAPTER  XLVH. 

THE    MAT-MAKER. 

It  was  a  cloudy,  sultry  afternoon ;  the  seamon  were  lazily 


238  THE    MAT-MAKER. 

lounging  about  the  decks,  or  vacantly  gazing  over  into  the  lead- 
colored  waters.  Queequeg  and  I  were  mildly  employed  weav- 
ing what  is  called  a  sword-mat,  for  an  additional  lashing  to  our 
boat.  So  still  and  subdued  and  yet  somehow  preluding  was  all 
the  scene,  and  such  an  incantation  of  revery  lurked  in  the  air, 
that  each  silent  sailor  seemed  resolved  into  his  own  invisible 
self. 

I  was  the  attendant  or  page  of  Queequeg,  while  busy  at  the 
mat.  As  I  kept  passing  and  repassing  the  filling  or  woof  of 
marline  between  the  long  yarns  of  the  warp,  using  my  own 
hand  for  the  shuttle,  and  as  Queequeg,  standing  sideways,  ever 
and  anon  slid  his  heavy  oaken  sword  between  the  threads,  and 
idly  looking  off  upon  the  water,  carelessly  and  unthinkingly  drove 
home  every  yarn  :  I  say  so  strange  a  dreaminess  did  there  then 
reign  all  over  the  ship  and  all  over  the  sea,  only  broken  by  the 
intermitting  dull  sound  of  the  sword,  that  it  seemed  as  if  this 
were  the  Loom  of  Time,  and  I  myself  were  a  shuttle  mechanic- 
ally weaving  and  weaving  away  at  the  Fates.  There  lay  the  fixed 
threads  of  the  warp  subject  to  but  one  single,  ever  returning,  un- 
changing vibration,  and  that  vibration  merely  enough  to  admit 
of  the  crosswise  interblending  of  other  threads  with  its  own. 
This  warp  seemed  necessity ;  and  here,  thought  I,  with  my  own 
hand  I  ply  my  own  shuttle  and  weave  my  own  destiny  into 
these  unalterable  threads.  Meantime,  Queequeg's  impulsive,  in- 
different sword,  sometimes  hitting  the  woof  slantingly,  or 
crookedly,  or  strongly,  or  weakly,  as  the  case  might  be  ;  and  by 
this  difference  in  the  concluding  blow  producing  a  corresponding 
contrast  in  the  final  aspect  of  the  completed  fabric ;  this 
savage's  sword,  thought  I,  which  thus  finally  shapes  and  fashions 
both  warp  and  woof ;  this  easy,  indifferent  sword  must  be  chance — 
aye,  chance,  free  will,  and  necessity — no  wise  incompatible — 
all  interweavingly  working  together.  The  straight  warp  of  ne- 
cessity, not  to  be  swerved  from  its  ultimate  course — its  every 
alternating  vibration,  indeed,  only  tending  to  that ;  free  will  still 


THE    MAT- MAKER.  239 

free  to  ply  her  shuttle  between  given  threads ;  and  chance,  though 
restrained  in  its  play  within  the  right  lines  of  necessity,  and 
sideways  in  its  motions  directed  by  free  will,  though  thus  pre- 
scribed to  by  both,  chance  by  turns  rules  either,  and  has  the 
last  featuring  blow  at  events. 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Thus  we  were  weaving  and  weaving  away  when  I  started  at 
a  sound  so  strange,  long  drawn,  and  musically  wild  and  un- 
earthly, that  the  ball  of  free  will  dropped  from  my  hand,  and  I 
stood  gazing  up  at  the  clouds  whence  that  voice  dropped 
like  a  wing.  High  aloft  in  the  cross-trees  was  that  mad  Gay- 
Header,  Tashtego.  His  Dody  was  reaching  eagerly  forward,  his 
hand  stretched  out  like  a  wand,  and  at  brief  sudden  intervals  he 
continued  his  cries.  To  be  sure  the  same  sound  was  that  very 
moment  perhaps  being  heard  all  over  the  seas,  from  hundreds 
of  whalemen's  look-outs  perched  as  high  in  the  air ;  but 
from  few  of  those  lungs  could  that  accustomed  old  cry  have 
derived  such  a  marvellous  cadence  as  from  Tashtego  the 
Indian's. 

As  he  stood  hovering  over  you  half  suspended  in  air,  so 
wildly  and  eagerly  peering  towards  the  horizon,  you  would  have 
thought  him  some  prophet  or  seer  beholding  the  shadows  of 
Fate,  and  by  those  wild  cries  announcing  their  coming. 

"  There  she  blows  !  there !  there !  there !  she  blows  !  she 
blows !" 

"  Where-away  ?" 

"  On  the  lee-beam,  about  two  miles  off!  a  school  of  them  !" 

Instantly  all  was  commotion. 

The  Sperm  Whale  blows  as  a  clock  ticks,  with  the  same 
undeviating  and  reliable  uniformity.  And  thereby  whalemen 
distinguish  this  fish  from  other  tribes  of  his  genus. 

"  There  go  flukes !"  was  now  the  cry  from  Tashtego ;  and 
the  whales  disappeared. 

"  Quick,  steward  !  cried  Ahab.     "  Time !  time !" 


U40  THE    FIRST    LOWERING. 

Dough-Boy  turned  below,  glanced  at  the  watch,  and  reported 
the  exact  minute  to  Ahab. 

The  ship  was  now  kept  away  from  the  wind,  and  she  went 
gently  rolling  before  it.  Tashtego  reporting  that  the  whales  had 
gone  down  heading  to  leeward,  we  confidently  looked  to  see  them 
again  directly  in  advance  of  our  bows.  For  that  singular  craft 
at  times  evinced  by  the  Sperm  Whale  when,  sounding  with  his 
head  in  one  direction,  he  nevertheless,  while  concealed  beneath 
the  surface,  mills  round,  and  swiftly  swims  off  in  the  opposite 
quarter — this  deceitfulness  of  his  could  not  now  be  in  action ; 
for  there  was  no  reason  to  suppose  that  the  fish  seen  by  Tash- 
tego had  been  in  any  way  alarmed,  or  indeed  knew  at  all  of 
our  vicinity.  One  of  the  men  selected  for  shipkeepers — that  is, 
those  not  appointed  to  the  boats,  by  this  time  relieved  the  Indian 
at  the  main-mast  head.  The  sailors  at  the  fore  and  mizzen  had 
come  down  ;  the  fine  tubs  were  fixed  in  their  places ;  the  cranes 
were  thrust  out ;  the  mainyard  was  backed,  and  the  three  boats 
swung  over  the  sea  like  three  samphire  baskets  over  high  cliffs. 
Outside  of  the  bulwarks  their  eager  crews  with  one  hand  clung 
to  the  rail,  while  one  foot  was  expectantly  poised  on  the  gun- 
wale. So  look  the  long  line  of  man-of-war's  men  about  to 
throw  themselves  on  board  an  enemy's  ship. 

But  at  this  critical  instant  a  sudden  exclamation  was  heard 
that  took  every  eye  from  the  whale.  With  a  start  all  glared 
at  dark  Ahab,  who  was  surrounded  by  five  dusky  phantoms 
that  seemed  fresh  formed  out  of  air. 


CHAPTER  XLVIII. 

THE  FIRST  LOWERING. 


The  phantoms,  for  so  they  then  seemed,  were  flitting  on  the 
other  side  of  the  deck,  and,  with  a  noiseless  celerity,  were 


THE    FIRST    LOWERING.  241 

casting  loose  the  tackles  and  bands  of  the  boat  which  swung 
there.  This  boat  had  always  been  deemed  one  of  the  spare 
boats,  though  technically  called  the  captain's,  on  account  of  its 
hanging  from  the  starboard  quarter.  The  figure  that  now  stood 
by  its  bows  was  tall  and  swart,  with  one  white  tooth  evilly  pro- 
truding from  its  steel-like  lips.  A  rumpled  Chinese  jacket  of 
black  cotton  funereally  invested  him,  with  wide  black  trowsers  of 
the  same  dark  stuff.  But  strangely  crowning  this  ebonness  was  a 
glistening  white  plaited  turban,  the  living  hair  braided  and  coiled 
round  and  round  upon  his  head.  Less  swart  in  aspect,  the 
companions  of  this  figure  were  of  that  vivid,  tiger-yellow  com- 
plexion peculiar  to  some  of  the  aboriginal  natives  of  the  Ma- 
nillas ; — a  race  notorious  for  a  certain  diabolism  of  subtilty,  and 
by  some  honest  white  mariners  supposed  to  be  the  paid  spies 
and  secret  confidential  agents  on  the  water  of  the  devil,  their 
lord,  whose  counting-room  they  suppose  to  be  elsewhere. 

While  yet  the  wondering  ship's  company  were  gazing  upon 
these  strangers,  Ahab  cried  out  to  the  white-turbaned  old  man 
at  their  head,  "  All  ready  there,  Fedallah  ? "    . 

"  Ready,"  was  the  half-hissed  reply. 

"  Lower  away  then ;  d'ye  hear  ?"  shouting  across  the  deck. 
"  Lower  away  there,  I  say." 

Such  was  the  thunder  of  his  voice,  that  spite  of  their  amaze- 
ment the  men  sprang  over  the  rail ;  the  sheaves  whirled  round 
in  the  blocks  ;  with  a  wallow,  the  three  boats  dropped  into  the 
sea ;  while,  with  a  dexterous,  off-handed  daring,  unknown  in 
any  other  vocation,  the  sailors,  goat-like,  leaped  down  the  rolling 
ship's  side  into  the  tossed  boats  below. 

Hardly  had  they  pulled  out  from  under  the  ship's  lee,  when 
a  fourth  keel,  coming  from  the  windward  side,  pulled  round 
under  the  stern,  and  showed  the  five  strangers  rowing  Ahab, 
who,  standing  erect  in  the  stern,  loudly  hailed  Starbuck,  Stubb, 
and  Flask,  to  spread  themselves  widely,  so  as  to  cover  a  large  ex- 
panse of  water.      But  with  all  their  eyes  again  riveted  upon  the 

11 


242  THE    FIRST    LOWERING. 

swart  Fedallah  and  his  crew,  the  inmates  of  the  other  boats 
obeyed  not  the  command. 

"  Captain  Ahab  ? — ''  said  Starbuck. 

"  Spread  yourselves,"  cried  Ahab ;  "  give  way,  all  four  boats. 
Thou,  Flask,  pull  out  more  to  leeward  ! " 

"Aye,  aye,  sir,"  cheerily  cried  little  King-Post,  sweeping 
round  his  great  steering  oar.  "  Lay  back  !"  addressing  his  crew. 
"  There  ! — there ! — there  again  !  There  she  blows  right  ahead, 
boys  ! — lay  back  !" 

"  Never  heed  yonder  yellow  boys,  Archy." 

"  Oh,  I  don't  mind  'em,  sir, '  said  Archy ;  "  I  knew  it  all 
before  now.  Didn't  I  hear  'em  in  the  hold  ?  And  didn't  I  tell 
Cabaco  here  of  it?  What  say  ye,  Cabaco  ?  They  are  stowa- 
ways, Mr.  Flask." 

"  Pull,  pull,  my  fine  hearts-alive  ;  pull,  my  children  ;  pull,  my 
little  ones,"  drawlingly  and  soothingly  sighed  Stubb  to  his  crew, 
some  of  whom  still  showed  signs  of  uneasiness.  "  Why  don't 
you  break  your  backbones,  my  boys  ?  What  is  it  you  stare  at  ? 
Those  chaps  in  yonder  boat?  Tut!  They  are  only  five 
more  hands  come  to  help  us — never  mind  from  where — the 
more  the  merrier.  Pull,  then,  do  pull ;  never  mind  the  brim- 
stone— devils  are  good  fellows  enough.  So,  so  ;  there  you  are 
now  ;  that's  the  stroke  for  a  thousand  pounds ;  that's  the  stroke 
to  sweep  the  stakes !  Hurrah  for  the  gold  cup  of  sperm  oil, 
my  heroes  !  Three  cheers,  men — all  hearts  alive !  Easy,  easy ; 
don't  be  in  a  hurry — don't  be  in  a  hurry.  Why  don't  you 
snap  your  oars,  you  rascals  ?  Bite  something,  you  dogs  !  So, 
so,  so,  then  ; — softly,  softly !  That's  it — that's  it !  long  and 
strong.  Give  way  there,  give  way  !  The  devil  fetch  ye,  ye 
ragamuffin  rapscallions ;  ye  are  all  asleep.  Stop  snoring,  ye 
sleepers,  and  pull.  Pull,  will  ye  ?  pull,  can't  ye  ?  pull,  won't 
ye?  Why  in  the  name  of  gudgeons  and  ginger- cakes  don't  ye 
pull? — pull  and  break  something!  pull,  and  start  your  eyes 
out !     Here  !  "  whipping  out  the  sharp  knife  from  his  girdle ; 


THE    FIRST    LOWERING.  243 

"  every  mother's  son  of  ye  draw  his  knife,  and  pull  with  the 
blade  between  his  teeth.  That's  it — that's  it.  Now  ye  do 
something ;  that  looks  like  it,  my  steel-bits.  Start  her — start 
her,  my  silver-spoons  !     Start  her,  marling-spikes  !" 

Stubb's  exordium  to  his  crew  is  given  here  at  large,  because 
he  had  rather  a  peculiar  way  of  talking  to  them  in  general,  and 
especially  in  inculcating  the  religion  of  rowing.  But  you  must 
not  suppose  from  this  specimen  of  his  sermonizings  that  he  ever 
flew  into  downright  passions  with  his  congregation.  Not  at 
all ;  and  therein  consisted  his  chief  peculiarity.  He  would  say 
the  most  terrific  things  to  his  crew,  in  a  tone  so  strangely  com- 
pounded of  fun  and  fury,  and  the  fury  seemed  so  calculated 
merely  as  a  spice  to  the  fun,  that  no  oarsman  could  hear  such 
queer  invocations  without  pulling  for  dear  life,  and  yet  pulling  for 
the  mere  joke  of  the  thing.  Besides  he  all  the  time  looked  so 
easy  and  indolent  himself,  so  loungingly  managed  his  steering- 
oar,  and  so  broadly  gaped— open-mouthed  at  times — that  the 
mere  sight  of  such  a  yawning  commander,  by  sheer  force  of 
contrast,  acted  like  a  charm  upon  the  crew.  Then  again,  Stubb 
was  one  of  those  odd  sort  of  humorists,  whose  jollity  is  some- 
times so  curiously  ambiguous,  as  to  put  all  inferiors  on  their 
guard  in  the  matter  of  obeying  them. 

In  obedience  to  a  sign  from  Ahab,  Starbuck  was  now  pulling 
obliquely  across  Stubb's  bow  ;  and  when  for  a  minute  or  so  the 
two  boats  were  pretty  near  to  each  other,  Stubb  hailed  the 
mate. 

"  Mr.  Starbuck !  larboard  boat  there,  ahoy  !  a  word  with  ye, 
sir,  if  ye  please !'' 

"  Halloa  !"  returned  Starbuck,  turning  round  not  a  single  inch 
as  he  spoke ;  still  earnestly  but  whisperingly  urging  his  crew ; 
his  face  set  like  a  flint  from  Stubb's. 

"  What  think  ye  of  those  yellow  boys,  sir !" 

"Smuggled  on  board,  somehow,  before  the  ship  sailed. 
(Strong,  strong,  boys !")  in  a  whisper  to  his  crew,  then  speak- 


244  THE    FIRST    LOWERING. 

ing  out  loud  again :  "  A  sad  business,  Mr.  Stubb  !  (seethe  her, 
seethe  her,  my  lads !)  but  never  mind,  Mr.  Stubb,  all  for  the 
best.  Let  all  your  crew  pull  strong,  come  what  will,  (Spring, 
my  men,  spring !)  There's  hogsheads  of  sperm  ahead,  Mr. 
Stubb,  and  that's  what  ye  came  for.  (Pull,  my  boys !)  Sperm, 
sperm's  the  play  !  This  at  least  is  duty ;  duty  and  profit  hand 
in  hand!" 

"  Aye,  aye,  I  thought  as  much,"  soliloquized  Stubb,  when 
the  boats  diverged,  "  as  soon  as  I  clapt  eye  on  'em,  I  thought 
so.  Aye,  and  that's  what  he  went  into  the  after  hold  for,  so 
often,  as  Dough-Boy  long  suspected.  They  were  hidden  down 
there.  The  White  "Whale's  at  the  bottom  of  it.  Well,  well, 
so  be  it !  Can't  be  helped !  All  right !  Give  way,  men !  It 
ain't  the  White  Whale  to-day  !     Give  way !" 

Now  the  advent  of  these  outlandish  strangers  at  such  a  criti- 
cal instant  as  the  lowering  of  the  boats  from  the  deck,  this  had 
not  unreasonably  awakened  a  sort  of  superstitious  amazement 
in  some  of  the  ship's  company ;  but  Archy's  fancied  discovery 
having  some  time  previous  got  abroad  among  them,  though 
indeed  not  credited  then,  this  had  in  some  small  measure  pre- 
pared them  for  the  event.  It  took  off  the  extreme  edge  of  their 
wonder ;  and  so  what  with  all  this  and  Stubb's  confident  way 
of  accounting  for  their  appearance,  they  were  for  the  time  freed 
from  superstitious  surmisings ;  though  the  affair  still  left  abun- 
dant room  for  all  manner  of  wild  conjectures  as  to  dark  Ahab's 
precise  agency  in  the  matter  from  the  beginning.  For  me,  I 
silently  recalled  the  mysterious  shadows  I  had  seen  creeping  on 
board  the  Pequod  during  the  dim  Nantucket  dawn,  as  well  as 
the  enigmatical  hintings  of  the  unaccountable  Elijah. 

Meantime,  Ahab,  out  of  hearing  of  his  officers,  having  sided 
the  furthest  to  windward,  was  still  ranging  ahead  of  the  other 
boats  ;  a  circumstance  bespeaking  how  potent  a  crew  was  pulling 
him.  Those  tiger  yellow  creatures  of  his  seemed  all  steel  and 
whalebone ;  like  five  trip-hammers  they  rose  and  fell  with  regu- 


THE    FIRST    LOWERING.  245 


lar  strokes  of  strength,  which  periodically  started  the  boat  along 
the  water  like  a  horizontal  burst  boiler  out  of  a  Mississippi 
steamer.  As  for  Fedallah,  who  was  seen  pulling  the  harpooneer 
oar,  he  had  thrown  aside  his  black  jacket,  and  displayed  his  na- 
ked chest  with  the  whole  part  of  his  body  above  the  gunwale, 
clearly  cut  against  the  alternating  depressions  of  the  watery 
horizon  ;  while  at  the  other  end  of  the  boat  Ahab,  with  one  arm, 
like  a  fencer's,  thrown  half  backward  into  the  air,  as  if  to  coun- 
terbalance any  tendency  to  trip  ;  Ahab  was  seen  steadily  ma- 
naging his  steering  oar  as  in  a  thousand  boat  lowerings  ere 
the  White  Whale  had  torn  him.  All  at  once  the  out- 
stretched arm  gave  a  peculiar  motion  and  then  remained  fixed, 
while  the  boat's  five  oars  were  seen  simultaneously  peaked. 
Boat  and  crew  sat  motionless  on  the  sea.  Instantly  the  three 
spread  boats  in  the  rear  paused  on  their  way.  The  whales  had 
irregularly  settled  bodily  down  into  the  blue,  thus  giving  no  dis- 
tantly discernible  token  of  the  movement,  though  from  his  closer 
vicinity  Ahab  had  observed  it. 

"  Every  man  look  out  along  his  oars !"  cried  Starbuck.  "  Thou, 
Queequeg,  stand  up !" 

Nimbly  springing  up  on  the  triangular  raised  box  in  the  bow, 
the  savage  stood  erect  there,  and  with  intensely  eager  eyes  gazed 
off  towards  the  spot  where  the  chase  had  last  been  descried. 
Likewise  upon  the  extreme  stern  of  the  boat  where  it  was  also 
triangularly  platformed  level  with  the  gunwale,  Starbuck  him- 
self was  seen  coolly  and  adroitly  balancing  himself  to  the  jerking 
tossings  of  his  chip  of  a  craft,  and  silently  eyeing  the  vast  blue 
eye  of  the  sea. 

Not  very  far  distant  Flask's  boat  was  also  lying  breathlessly 
still ;  its  commander  recklessly  standing  upon  the  top  of  the 
loggerhead,  a  stout  sort  of  post  rooted  in  the  keel,  and  rising 
some  two  feet  above  the  level  of  the  stern  platform.  It  is  used 
for  catching  turns  with  the  whale  fine.  Its  top  is  not  more 
spacious  than  the  palm  of  a  man's  hand,  and  standing  upon 


246  THE    FIRST    LOWERING. 

such  a  base  as  that,  Flask  seemed  perched  at  the  mast-head  of 
some  ship  which  had  sunk  to  all  but  her  trucks.  But  little 
King-Post  was  small  and  short,  and  at  the  same  time  little  King- 
Post  was  full  of  a  large  and  tall  ambition,  so  that  this  logger- 
head stand-point  of  his  did  by  no  means  satisfy  King-Post. 

"  I  Can't  see  three  seas  off;  tip  us  up  an  oar  there,  and  let  me 
on  to  that." 

Upon  this,  Daggoo,  with  either  hand  upon  the  gunwale  to 
steady  his  way,  swiftly  slid  aft,  and  then  erecting  himself  volun- 
teered his  lofty  shoulders  for  a  pedestal. 

"  Good  a  mast-head  as  any,  sir.     Will  you  mount  ?" 

"  That  I  will,  and  thank  ye  very  much,  my  fine  fellow  ;  only 
I  wish  you  fifty  feet  taller." 

Whereupon  planting  his  feet  firmly  against  two  opposite 
planks  of  the  boat,  the  gigantic  negro,  stooping  a  little,  present- 
ed his  flat  palm  to  Flask's  foot,  and  then  putting  Flask's  hand 
on  his  hearse-plumed  head  and  bidding  him  spring  as  he  him- 
self should  toss,  with  one  dexterous  fling  landed  the  little  man 
high  and  dry  on  his  shoulders.  And  here  was  Flask  now  stand- 
ing, Daggoo  with  one  lifted  arm  furnishing  him  with  a  breast- 
band  to  lean  against  and  steady  himself  by. 

At  any  time  it  is  a  strange  sight  to  the  tyro  to  see  with  what 
wondrous  habitude  of  unconscious  skill  the  whaleman  will  main- 
tain an  erect  posture  in  his  boat,  even  when  pitched  about  by 
the  most  riotously  perverse  and  cross-running  seas.  Still  more 
strange  to  see  him  giddily  perched  upon  the  loggerhead  itself, 
under  such  circumstances.  But  the  sight  of  little  Flask  mount- 
ed upon  gigantic  Daggoo  was  yet  more  curious  ;  for  sustaining 
himself  with  a  cool,  indifferent,  easy,  unthought  of,  barbaric  ma- 
jesty, the  noble  negro  to  every  roll  of  the  sea  harmoniously  rolled 
his  fine  form.  On  his  broad  back,  flaxen-haired  Flask  seemed  a 
snow-flake.  The  bearer  looked  noble]"  than  the  rider.  Though 
truly  vivacious,  tumultuous,  ostentatious  little  Flask  would  now 
and  then  stamp  with  impatience ;  but  not  one  added  heave  did 


THE    FIRST    LOWERING.  247 

he  thereby  give  to  the  negro's  lordly  chest.  So  have  I  seen 
Passion  and  Vanity  stamping  the  living  magnanimous  earth, 
but  the  earth  did  not  alter  her  tides  and  her  seasons  for  that. 

Meanwhile  Stubb,  the  third  mate,  betrayed  no  such  far-gazing 
solicitudes.  The  whales  might  have  made  one  of  their  regular 
soundings,  not  a  temporary  dive  from  mere  fright ;  and  if  that 
were  the  case,  Stubb,  as  his  wont  in  such  cases,  it  seems,  was 
resolved  to  solace  the  languishing  interval  with  his  pipe.  He 
withdrew  it  from  his  hatband,  where  he  always  wore  it  aslant 
like  a  feather.  He  loaded  it,  and  rammed  home  the  loading 
with  his  thumb-end ;  but  hardly  had  he  ignited  his  match 
across  the  rough  sand-paper  of  his  hand,  when  Tashtegq,  his 
harpooneer,  whose  eyes  had  been  setting  to  windward  like  two 
fixed  stars,  suddenly  dropped  like  light  from  his  erect  attitude 
to  his  seat,  crying  out  in  a  quick  phrensy  of  hurry,  "  Down,  down 
all,  and  give  way  ! — there  they  are  !" 

To  a  landsman,  no  whale,  nor  any  sign  of  a  herring,  would 
have  been  visible  at  that  moment ;  nothing  but  a  troubled  bit 
of  greenish  white  water,  and  thin  scattered  puffs  of  vapor 
hovering  over  it,  and  suffusingly  blowing  off  to  leeward,  like  the 
confused  scud  from  white  rolling  billows.  The  air  around 
suddenly  vibrated  and  tingled,  as  it  were,  like  the  air  over 
intensely  heated  plates  of  iron.  Beneath  this  atmospheric 
waving  and  curling,  and  partially  beneath  a  thin  layer  of  water, 
also,  the  whales  were  swimming.  Seen  in  advance  of  all  the 
other  indications,  the  puffs  of  vapor  they  spouted,  seemed  their 
forerunning  couriers  and  detached  flying  outriders. 

All  four  boats  were  now  in  keen  pursuit  of  that  one  spot  of 
troubled  water  and  air.  But  it  bade  far  to  outstrip  them ;  it 
flew  on  and  on,  as  a  mass  of  interblending  bubbles  borne  down 
a  rapid  stream  from  the  hills. 

"  Pull,  pull,  my  good  boys,"  said  Starbuck,  in  the  lowest 
possible  but  intensest  concentrated  whisper  to  his  men ;  while 
the  sharp  fixed  glance  from  his  eyes  darted  straight  ahead  of 


248  THE    FIRST    LOWERING. 

the  bow,  almost  seemed  as  two  visible  needles  in  two  unerring 
binnacle  compasses.  He  did  not  say  much  to  his  crew,  though, 
nor  did  his  crew  say  anything  to  him.  Only  the  silence  of  the 
boat  was  at  intervals  startlingly  pierced  by  one  of  his  peculiar 
whispers,  now  harsh  with  command,  now  soft  with  entreaty. 

How  different  the  loud  little  King-Post.  "  Sing  out  and  say 
something,  my  hearties.  Roar  and  pull,  my  thunderbolts ! 
Beach  me,  beach  me  on  their  black  backs,  boys ;  only  do  that 
for  me,  and  I'll  sign  over  to  you  my  Martha's  Vineyard  planta- 
tion, boys ;  including  wife  and  children,  boys.  Lay  me  on — lay 
me  on !  O  Lord,  Lord !  but  I  shall  go  stark,  staring  mad : 
See  !  see  that  white  water !"  And  so  shouting,  he  pulled  his  hat 
from  his  head,  and  stamped  up  and  down  on  it ;  then  picking 
it  up,  flirted  it  far  off  upon  the  sea ;  and  finally  fell  to  rearing 
and  plunging  in  the  boat's  stern  like  a  crazed  colt  from  the 
prairie. 

"Look  at  that  chap  now,"  philosophically  drawled  Stubb, 
who,  with  his  unlighted  short  pipe,  mechanically  retained 
between  his  teeth,  at  a  short  distance,  followed  after — "He's  got 
fits,  that  Flask  has.  Fits  ?  yes,  give  him  fits — that's  the  very 
word— pitch  fits  into  'em.  Merrily,  merrily,  hearts-alive.  Pud- 
ding for  supper,  you  know ; — merry's  the  word.  Pull,  babes 
— pull,  sucklings — pull,  all.  But  what  the  devil  are  you  hurry- 
ing about  ?  Softly,  softly,  and  steadily,  my  men.  Only  pull, 
and  keep  pulling ;  nothing  more.  Crack  all  your  backbones, 
and  bite  your  knives  in  two — that's  all.  Take  it  easy — why 
don't  ye  take  it  easy,  I  say,  and  burst  all  your  livers  and 
lungs  ! "  • 

But  what  it  was  that  inscrutable  Ahab  said  to  that  tiger- 
yellow  crew  of  his — these  were  words  best  omitted  here ;  for 
you  live  under  the  blessed  light  of  the  evangelical  land.  Only 
the  infidel  sharks  in  the  audacious  seas  may  give  ear  to  such 
words,  when,  with  tornado  brow,  and  eyes  of  red  murdei*,  and 
foam-glued  lips,  Ahab  leaped  after  his  prey. 


THE    FIRST    LOWERING,  249 

Meanwhile,  all  the  boats  tore  on.  The  repeated  specific  allu- 
sions of  Flask  to  "  that  whale,"  as  he  called  the  fictitious 
monster  which  he  declared  to  be  incessantly  tantalizing  his 
boat's  bow  with  its  tail — these  allusions  of  his  were  at  times 
so  vivid  and  life-like,  that  they  would  cause  some  one  or  two  of 
his  men  to  snatch  a  fearful  look  over  the  shoulder.  But  this 
was  against  all  rule  ;  for  the  oarsmen  must  put  out  their  eyes, 
and  ram  a  skewer  through  their  necks  ;  usage  pronouncing  that 
they  must  have  no  organs  but  ears,  and  no  limbs  but  arms,  in 
these  critical  moments. 

It  was  a  sight  full  of  quick  wonder  and  awe !  The  vast 
swells  of  the  omnipotent  sea ;  the  surging,  hollow  roar  they 
made,  as  they  rolled  along  the  eight  gunwales,  like  gigantic 
bowls  in  a  boundless  bowling-green ;  the  brief  suspended  agony 
of  the  boat,  as  it  would  tip  for  an  instant  on  the  knife-like  edge 
of  the  sharper  waves,  that  almost  seemed  threatening  to  cut 
it  in  two ;  the  sudden  profound  dip  into  the  watery  glens  and 
hollows  ;  the  keen  spurrings  and  goadings  to  gain  the  top  of  the 
opposite  hill ;  the  headlong,  sled-like  slide  down  its  other 
side ; — all  these,  with  the  cries  of  the  headsmen  and  har- 
pooneers,  and  the  shuddering  gasps  of  the  oarsmen,  with  the 
wondrous  sight  of  the  ivory  Pequod  bearing  down  upon  her 
boats  with  outstretched  sails,  like  a  wild  hen  after  her  screaming 
brood ; — all  this  was  thrilling.  Not  the  raw  recruit,  marching 
from  the  bosom  of  his  wife  into  the  fever  heat  of  his  first  battle ; 
not  the  dead  man's  ghost  encountering  the  first  unknown 
phantom  in  the  other  world ; — neither  of  these  can  feel  stranger 
and  stronger  emotions  than  that  man  does,  who  for  the  first 
time  finds  himself  pulling  into  the  charmed,  churned  circle  of 
the  hunted  sperm  whale. 

The  dancing  white  water  made  by  the  chase  was  now  becom- 
ing more  and  more  visible,  owing  to  the  increasing  darkness  of 
the  dun  cloud-shadows  flung  upon  the  sea.  The  jets  of  vapor 
no  longer  blended,  but  tilted  everywhere  to  right  and  left ;  the 

11* 


250  THE    FIRST    LOWERING. 


whales  seemed  separating  their  wakes.  The  boats  were  pulled 
more  apart ;  Starbuck  giving  chase  to  three  whales  running 
dead  to  leeward.  Our  sail  was  now  set,  and,  with  the  still 
rising  wind,  we  rushed  along ;  the  boat  going  with  such  mad- 
ness through  the  water,  that  the  lee  oars  could  scarcely  be 
worked  rapidly  enough  to  escape  being  torn  from  the  row-locks. 

Soon  we  were  running  through  a  suffusing  wide  veil  of  mist ; 
neither  ship  nor  boat  to  be  seen. 

"  Give  way,  men,"  whispered  Starbuck,  drawing  still  further 
aft  the  sheet  of  his  sail ;  "  there  is  time  to  kill  a  fish  yet  before 
the  squall  comes.  There's  white  water  again ! — close  to  ! 
Spring !" 

Soon  after,  two  cries  in  quick  succession  on  each  side  of  us 
denoted  that  the  other  boats  had  got  fast ;  but  hardly  were 
they  overheard,  when  with  a  lightning-like  hurtling  whisper 
Starbuck  said :  "  Stand  up !"  and  Queequeg,  harpoon  in  hand, 
sprang  to  his  feet. 

Though  not  one  of  the  oarsmen  was  then  facing  the  life  and 
death  peril  so  close  to  them  ahead,  yet  with  their  eyes  on  the 
intense  countenance  of  the  mate  in  the  stern  of  the  boat,  they 
knew  that  the  imminent  instant  had  come ;  they  heard,  too,  an 
enormous  wallowing  sound  as  of  fifty  elephants  stirring  in  their 
litter.  Meanwhile  the  boat  was  still  booming  through  the  mist, 
the  waves  curling  and  hissing  around  us  like  the  erected  crests 
of  enraged  serpents. 

"  That's  his  hump.  There,  there,  give  it  to  him  !"  whispered 
Starbuck. 

A  short  rushing  sound  leaped  out  of  the  boat ;  it  was  the 
darted  iron  of  Queequeg.  Then  all  in  one  welded  commotion 
came  an  invisible  push  from  astern,  while  forward  the  boat 
seemed  striking  on  a  ledge ;  the  sail  collapsed  and  exploded ;  a 
gush  of  scalding  vapor  shot  up  near  by  ;  something  rolled  and 
tumbled  like  an  earthquake  beneath  us.  The  whole  crew  were 
half  suffocated  as  they  were  tossed  helter-skelter  into  the  white 


THE   FIRST    LOWERING.  251 

curdling  cream  of  the  squall.  Squall,  whale,  and  harpoon  had 
all  blended  together ;  and  the  whale,  merely  grazed  by  the  iron, 
escaped. 

Though  completely  swamped,  the  boat  was  nearly  unharmed. 
Swimming  round  it  we  picked  up  the  floating  oars,  and  lashing 
them  across  the  gunwale,  tumbled  back  to  our  places.  There 
we  sat  up  to  our  knees  in  the  sea,  the  water  covering  every  rib 
and  plank,  so  that  to  our  downward  gazing  eyes  the  suspended 
craft  seemed  a  coral  boat  grown  up  to  us  from  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean. 

The  wind  increased  to  a  howl ;  the  waves  dashed  their  bucklers 
together  ;  the  whole  squall  roared,  forked,  and  crackled  around 
us  like  a  white  fire  upon  the  prairie,  in  which,  unconsumed,  we 
were  burning ;  immortal  in  these  jaws  of  death  !  In  vain  we 
hailed  the  other  boats  ;  as  well  roar  to  the  live  coals  down  the 
chimney  of  a  flaming  furnace  as  hail  those  boats  in  that  storm. 
Meanwhile  the  driving  scud,  rack,  and  mist,  grew  darker  with  the 
shadows  of  night ;  no  sign  of  the  ship  could  be  seen.  The  ris- 
ing sea  forbade  all  attempts  to  bale  out  the  boat.  The  oars 
were  useless  as  propellers,  performing  now  the  office  of  life-pre- 
servers. So,  cutting  the  lashing  of  the  waterproof  match  keg, 
after  many  failures  Starbuck  contrived  to  ignite  the  lamp  in  the 
lantern ;  then  stretching  it  on  a  waif  pole,  handed  it  to  Quee- 
queg  as  the  standard-bearer  of  this  forlorn  hope.  There,  then, 
he  sat,  holding  up  that  imbecile  candle  in  the  heart  of  that  al- 
mighty forlornness.  There,  then,  he  sat,  the  sign  and  symbol 
of  a  man  without  faith,  hopelessly  holding  up  hope  in  the  midst 
of  despair. 

Wet,  drenched  through,  and  shivering  cold,  despairing  of 
ship  or  boat,  we  lifted  up  our  eyes  as  the  dawn  came  on.  The 
mist  still  spread  over  the  sea,  the  empty  lantern  lay  crushed  in 
the  bottom  of  the  boat.  Suddenly  Queequeg  started  to  his 
feet,  hollowing  his  hand  to  his  ear.  We  all  heard  a  faint  creak- 
ing, as  of  ropes  and  yards  hitherto  muffled  by  the  storm.     The 


252  THE    HYENA, 


sound  came  nearer  and  nearer ;  the  thick  mists  were  dimly  part- 
ed by  a  huge,  vague  form.  Affrighted,  we  all  sprang  into  the 
sea  as  the  ship  at  last  loomed  into  view,  hearing  light  down 
upon  us  within  a  distance  of  not  much  more  than  its  length. 

Floating  on  the  waves  we  saw  the  abandoned  boat,  as  for  one 
instant  it  tossed  and  gaped  beneath  the  ship's  bows  like  a  chip 
at  the  base  of  a  cataract ;  and  then  the  vast  hull  rolled  over  it» 
and  it  was  seen  no  more  till  it  came  up  weltering  astern. 
Again  we  swam  for  it,  were  dashed  against  it  by  the  seas,  and 
were  at  last  taken  up  and  safely  landed  on  board.  Ere  the 
squall  came  close  to,  the  other  boats  had  cut  loose  from  their 
fish  and  returned  to  the  ship  in  good  time.  The  ship  had  given 
us  up,  but  was  still  cruising,  if  haply  it  might  light  upon  some 
token  of  our  perishing, — an  oar  or  a  lance  pole. 


CHAPTER  XLIX. 

THE    HYENA. 

There  are  certain  queer  times  and  occasions  in  this  strange 
mixed  affair  we  call  life  when  a  man  takes  this  whole  universe 
for  a  vast  practical  joke,  though  the  wit  thereof  he  but  dimly 
discerns,  and  more  than  suspects  that  the  joke  is  at  nobody's 
expense  but  his  own.  However,  nothing  dispirits,  and  nothing 
seems  worth  while  disputing.  He  bolts  down  all  events,  all 
creeds,  and  beliefs,  and  persuasions,  all  hard  things  visible  and 
invisible,  never  mind  how  knobby ;  as  an  ostrich  of  potent  di- 
gestion gobbles  down  bullets  and  gun  flints.  And  as  for  small 
difficulties  and  worryings,  prospects  of  sudden  disaster,  peril  of 
life  and  limb ;  all  these,  and  death  itself,  seem  to  him  only  sly, 
good-natured  hits,  and  jolly  punches  in  the  side  bestowed  by 
the  unseen  and  unaccountable  old  joker.  That  odd  sort  of  way- 
ward mood  I  am  speaking  of,  comes  over  a  man  only  in  some 


THE    HYENA.  253 


time  of  extreme  tribulation  ;  it  comes  in  the  very  midst  of  his 
earnestness,  so  that  what  just  before  might  have  seemed  to  him 
a  thing  most  momentous,  now  seems  but  a  part  of  the  general 
joke.  There  is  nothing  like  the  perils  of  whaling  to  breed  this 
free  and  easy  sort  of  genial,  desperado  philosophy ;  and  with  it 
I  now  regarded  this  whole  voyage  of  the  Pequod,  and  the  great 
White  Whale  its  object. 

"  Queequeg,''  said  I,  when  they  had  dragged  me,  the  last  man, 
to  the  deck,  and  I  was  still  shaking  myself  in  my  jacket  to  fling 
off  the  water ;  "  Queequeg,  my  fine  friend,  does  this  sort  of 
thing  often  happen  ?"  Without  much  emotion,  though  soaked 
through  just  like  me,  he  gave  me  to  understand  that  such  things 
did  often  happen. 

"Mr.  Stubb,"  said  I,  turning  to  that  worthy,  who,  buttoned  up 
in  his  oil-jacket,  was  now  calmly  smoking  his  pipe  in  the  rain ; 
"  Mr.  Stubb,  I  think  I  have  heard  you  say  that  of  all  whalemen 
you  ever  met,  our  chief  mate,  Mr.  Starbuck,  is  by  far  the  most 
careful  and  prudent.  I  suppose  then,  that  going  plump  on  a 
flying  whale  with  your  sail  set  in  a  foggy  squall  is  the  height  of 
a  whaleman's  discretion  ?" 

"  Certain.  I've  lowered  for  whales  from  a  leaking  ship  in  a 
gale  off  Cape  Horn." 

"  Mr.  Flask,"  said  I,  turning  to  little  King-Post,  who  was 
standing  close  by ;  "  you  are  experienced  in  these  things,  and  I 
am  not.  Will  you  tell  me  whether  it  is  an  unalterable  law  in 
this  fishery,  Mr.  Flask,  for  an  oarsman  to  break  his  own  back 
pulling  himself  back-foremost  into  death's  jaws  ?" 

"  Can't  you  twist  that  smaller  ?"  said  Flask.  "  Yes,  that's  the 
law.  I  should  like  to  see  a  boat's  crew  backing  water  up  to  a 
whale  face  foremost.  Ha,  ha !  the  whale  would  give  them  squint 
for  squint,  mind  that !" 

Here  then,  from  three  impartial  witnesses,  I  had  a  deliberate 
statement  of  the  entire  case.  Considering,  therefore,  that  squalls 
and  capsizings  in  the  water  and  consequent  bivouacks  on  the 


254  THE    HYENA. 


deep,  were  matters  of  common  occurrence  in  this  kind  of  life ; 
considering  that  at  the  superlatively  critical  instant  of  going  on 
to  the  whale  I  must  resign  my  life  into  the  hands  of  him  who 
steered  the  boat — oftentimes  a  fellow  who  at  that  very  moment 
is  in  his  impetuousness  upon  the  point  of  scuttling  the  craft  with 
his  own  frantic  stampings ;  considering  that  the  particular  disas- 
ter to  our  own  particular  boat  was  chiefly  to  be  imputed  to  Star- 
buck's  driving  on  to  his  whale  almost  in  the  teeth  of  a  squall, 
and  considering  that  Starbuck,  notwithstanding,  was  famous  for 
his  great  heedfulness  in  the  fishery ;  considering  that  I  belonged 
to  this  uncommonly  prudent  Starbuck's  boat ;  and  finally  consi- 
dering in  what  a  devil's  chase  I  was  implicated,  touching  the 
White  Whale :  taking  all  things  together,  I  say,  I  thought  I 
might  as  well  go  below  and  make  a  rough  draft  of  my  will. 
"Queequeg,"  said  I,  "come  along,  you  shall  be  my  lawyer, 
executor,  and  legatee." 

It  may  seem  strange  that  of  all  men  sailors  should  be  tinker- 
ing at  their  last  wills  and  testaments,  but  there  are  no  people  in 
the  world  more  fond  of  that  diversion.  This  was  the  fourth 
time  in  my  nautical  life  that  I  had  done  the  same  thing.  After 
the  ceremony  was  concluded  upon  the  present  occasion,  I  felt 
all  the  easier ;  a  stone  was  rolled  away  from  my  heart.  Be- 
sides, all  the  days  I  should  now  live  would  be  as  good  as  the 
days  that  Lazarus  lived  after  his  resurrection  ;  a  supplementary 
clean  gain  of  so  many  months  or  weeks  as  the  case  might  be. 
I  survived  myself;  my  death  and  burial  were  locked  up  in  my 
chest.  I  looked  round  me  tranquilly  and  contentedly,  like  a 
quiet  ghost  with  a  clean  conscience  sitting  inside  the  bare  of  a 
snug  family  vault. 

Now  then,  thought  I,  unconsciously  rolling  up  the  sleeves  of 
my  frock,  here  goes  for  a  cool,  collected  dive  at  death  and  de- 
struction, and  the  devil  fetch  the  hindmost. 


FEDALLAH.  255 


CHAPTER  L. 

AHAB's   BOAT    AND    CREW.      FEDALLAH. 

"  Who  would  have  thought  it,  Flask  !"  cried  Stubb  ;  "  if  I 
had  hut  one  leg  you  would  not  catch  rne  in  a  boat,  unless  maybe 
to  stop  the  plug-hole  with  my  timber  toe.  Oh !  he's  a  wonder- 
ful old  man !" 

"  I  don't  think  it  so  strange,  after  all,  on  that  account,"  said 
Flask.  "  If  his  leg  were  off  at  the  hip,  now,  it  would  be  a 
different  thing.  That  would  disable  him  ;  but  he  has  one  knee, 
and  good  part  of  the  other  left,  you  know." 

"  I  don't  know  that,  my  little  man ;  I  never  yet  saw  him 

kneel." 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

Among  whale-wise  people  it  has  often  been  argued  whether, 
considering  the  paramount  importance  of  his  life  to  the  success 
of  the  voyage,  it  is  right  for  a  whaling  captain  to  jeopardize 
that  life  in  the  active  perils  of  the  chase.  So  Tamerlane's  sol- 
diers often  argued  with  tears  in  their  eyes,  whether  that  invalu- 
able life  of  his  ought  to  be  carried  into  the  thickest  of  the  fight. 

But  with  Ahab  the  question  assumed  a  modified  aspect.  Con- 
sidering that  with  two  legs  man  is  but  a  hobbling  wight  in  all 
times  of  danger;  considering  that  the  pursuit  of  whales  is 
always  under  great  and  extraordinary  difficulties ;  that  every  in- 
dividual moment,  indeed,  then  comprises  a  peril ;  under  these 
circumstances  is  it  wise  for  any  maimed  man  to  enter  a  whale- 
boat  in  the  hunt  ?  As  a  general  thing,  the  joint-owners  of  the 
Pequod  must  have  plainly  thought  not. 

Ahab  well  knew  that  although  his  friends  at  home  would 
think  little  of  his  entering  a  boat  in  certain  comparatively 
harmless  vicissitudes  of  the  chase,  for  the  sake  of  being  near  the 


256  FEDALLAH. 


scene  of  action  and  giving  his  orders  in  person,  yet  for  Captain 
Ahab  to  have  a  boat  actually  apportioned  to  him  as  a  regular 
headsman  in  the  hunt — above  all  for  Captain  Ahab  to  be  sup- 
plied with  five  extra  men,  as  that  same  boat's  crew,  he  well 
knew  that  such  generous  conceits  never  entered  the  heads  of  the 
owners  of  the  Pequod.  Therefore  he  had  not  solicited  a  boat's 
crew  from  them,  nor  had  he  in  any  way  hinted  his  desires  on  that 
head.  Nevertheless  he  had  taken  private  measures  of  his  own 
touching  all  that  matter.  Until  Cabaco's  published  discovery, 
the  sailors  had  little  foreseen  it,  though  to  be  sure  when,  after 
being  a  little  while  out  of  port,  all  hands  had  concluded  the  cus- 
tomary business  of  fitting  the  whaleboats  for  service ;  when 
some  time  after  this  Ahab  was  now  and  then  found  bestir- 
ring himself  in  the  matter  of  making  thole-pins  with  his  own 
hands  for  what  was  thought  to  be  one  of  the  spare  boats,  and 
even  solicitously  cutting  the  small  wooden  skewers,  which  when 
the  line  is  running  out  are  pinned  over  the  groove  in  the  bow : 
when  all  this  was  observed  in  him,  and  particularly  his  solici- 
tude in  having  an  extra  coat  of  sheathing  in  the  bottom  of  the 
boat,  as  if  to  make  it  better  withstand  the  pointed  pressure  of 
his  ivory  limb  ;  and  also  the  anxiety  he  evinced  in  exactly  shap- 
ing the  thigh  board,  or  clumsy  cleat,  as  it  is  sometimes  called, 
the  horizontal  piece  in  the  boat's  bow  for  bracing  the  knee 
against  in  darting  or  stabbing  at  the  whale  ;  when  it  was  ob- 
served how  often  he  stood  up  in  that  boat  with  his  solitary  knee 
fixed  in  the  semi-circular  depression  in  the  cleat,  and  with  the 
carpenter's  chisel  gouged  out  a  little  here  and  straightened  it  a 
little  there ;  all  these  things,  I  say,  had  awakened  much  interest 
and  curiosity  at  the  time.  But  almost  everybody  supposed  that 
this  particular  preparative  needfulness  in  Ahab  must  only  be 
with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  chase  of  Moby  Dick  ;  for  he  had 
already  revealed  his  intention  to  hunt  that  mortal  monster 
in  person.  But  such  a  supposition  did  by  no  means  involve 
the  remotest  suspicion  as  to  any  boat's  crew  being  assigned  to 
that  boat. 


FEDALLAH.  257 


Now,  with  the  subordinate  phantoms,  what  wonder  remained 
soon  waned  away ;  for  in  a  whaler  wonders  soon  wane.  Be- 
sides, now  and  then  such  unaccountable  odds  and  ends  of  strange 
nations  come  up  from  the  unknown  nooks  and  ash-holes  of  the 
earth  to  man  these  floating  outlaws  of  whalers ;  and  the  ships 
themselves  often  pick  up  such  queer  castaway  creatures  found 
tossing  about  the  open  sea  on  planks,  bits  of  wreck,  oars,  whale- 
boats,  canoes,  blown-off  Japanese  junks,  and  what  not ;  that 
Beelzebub  himself  might  climb  up  the  side  and  step  down  into 
the  cabin  to  chat  with  the  captain,  and  it  would  not  create  any 
unsubduable  excitement  in  the  forecastle. 

But  be  all  this  as  it  may,  certain  it  is  that  while  the  subordi- 
nate phantoms  soon  found  their  place  among  the  crew,  though 
still  as  it  were  somehow  distinct  from  them,  yet  that  hair-tur- 
baned  Fedallah  remained  a  muffled  mystery  to  the  last.  Whence 
he  came  in  a  mannerly  world  like  this,  by  what  sort  of  unac- 
countable tie  he  soon  evinced  himself  to  be  linked  with  Ahab's 
peculiar  fortunes ;  nay,  so  far  as  to  have  some  sort  of  a  half- 
hinted  influence  ;  Heaven  knows,  but  it  might  have  been  even 
authority  over  him ;  all  this  none  knew.  But  one  cannot  sus- 
tain an  indifferent  air  concerning  Fedallah.  He  was  such  a 
creature  as  civilized,  domestic  people  in  the  temperate  zone  only 
see  in  their  dreams,  and  that  but  dimly ;  but  the  like  of  whom 
now  and  then  glide  among  the  unchanging  Asiatic  communi- 
ties, especially  the  Oriental  isles  to  the  east  of  the  continent — 
those  insulated,  immemorial,  unalterable  countries,  which  even 
in  these  modern  days  still  preserve  much  of  the  ghostly  abori- 
ginalness  of  earth's  primal  generations,  when  the  memory  of  the 
first  man  was  a  distinct  recollection,  and  all  men  his  descendants, 
unknowing  whence  he  came,  eyed  each  other  as  real  phantoms, 
and  asked  of  the  sun  and  the  moon  why  they  were  created  and 
to  what  end ;  when  though,  according  to  Genesis,  the  angels  in- 
deed consorted  with  the  daughters  of  men,  the  devils  also,  add 
the  uncanonical  Rabbins,  indulged  in  mundane  amours. 


I 


258  THE    SPIRIT-SPOUT. 


CHAPTER  LI. 

THE  SPIRIT-SPOUT. 

Days,  weeks  passed,  and  under  easy  sail,  the  ivory  Pequod 
had  slowly  swept  across  four  several  cruising-grounds  ;  that  off 
the  Azores ;  off  the  Cape  de  Verdes  ;  on  the  Plate  (so  called), 
being  off  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata ;  and  the  Carrol 
Ground,  an  unstaked,  watery  locality,  southerly  from  St. 
Helena. 

It  was  while  gliding  through  these  latter  waters  that  one 
serene  and  moonlight  night,  when  all  the  waves  rolled  by  like 
scrolls  of  silver ;  and,  by  their  soft,  suffusing  seethings,  made 
what  seemed  a  silvery  silence,  not  a  solitude :  on  such  a  silent 
night  a  silvery  jet  was  seen  far  in  advance  of  the  white  bubbles 
at  the  bow.  Lit  up  by  the  moon,  it  looked  celestial ;  seemed 
some  plumed  and  glittering  god  uprising  from  the  sea.  Fedal- 
lah  first  descried  this  jet.  For  of  these  moonlight  nights,  it 
was  his  wont  to  mount  to  the  main-mast  head,  and  stand  a 
look-out  there,  with  the  same  precision  as  if  it  had  been  day. 
And  yet,  though  herds  of  whales  were  seen  by  night,  not  one 
whaleman  in  a  hundred  would  venture  a  lowering  for  them. 
You  may  think  with  what  emotions,  then,  the  seamen  beheld 
this  old  Oriental  perched  aloft  at  such  unusual  hours ;  his 
turban  and  the  moon,  companions  in  one  sky.  But  when,  after 
spending  his  uniform  interval  there  for  several  successive  nights 
without  uttering  a  single  sound ;  when,  after  all  this  silence, 
his  unearthly  voice  was  heard  announcing  that  silvery,  moon-lit 
jet,  every  reclining  mariner  started  to  his .  feet  as  if  some 
winged  spirit  had  lighted  in  the  rigging,  and  hailed  the  mortal 
crew.      "  There  she  blows  !"      Had  the  trump  of  judgment 


THE    SPIRIT-SPOUT.  259 

blown,  they  could  not  have  quivered  more ;  yet  still  they  felt 
no  terror  ;  rather  pleasure.  For  though  it  was  a  most  unwonted 
hour,  yet  so  impressive  was  the  cry,  and  so  deliriously  exciting, 
that  almost  every  soul  on  board  instinctively  desired  a  lowering. 

Walking  the  deck  with  quick,  side-lunging  strides,  Ahab 
commanded  the  t'gallant  sails  and  royals  to  be  set,  and  every 
stunsail  spread.  The  best  man  in  the  ship  must  take  the  helm . 
Then,  with  every  mast-head  manned,  the  piled-up  craft  rolled 
down  before  the  wind.  The  strange,  upheaving,  lifting  tendency  of 
the  taffrail  breeze  filling  the  hollows  of  so  many  sails,  made  the 
buoyant,  hovering  deck  to  feel  like  air  beneath  the  feet ;  while  still 
she  rushed  along,  as  if  two  antagonistic  influences  were  strug- 
gling in  her — one  to  mount  direct  to  heaven,  the  other  to  drive 
yawingly  to  some  horizontal  goal.  And  had  you  watched 
Ahab's  face  that  night,  you  would  have  thought  that  in  him 
also  two  different  things  were  warring.  While  his  one  live  leg 
made  lively  echoes  along  the  deck,  every  stroke  of  his  dead 
limb  sounded  like  a  coffin-tap.  On  life  and  death  this  old  man 
walked.  But  though  the  ship  so  swiftly  sped,  and  though  from 
every  eye,  like  arrows,  the  eager  glances  shot,  yet  the  silvery  jet 
was  no  more  seen  that  night.  Every  sailor  swore  he  saw  it 
once,  but  not  a  second  time. 

This  midnight-spout  had  almost  grown  a  forgotten  thing, 
when,  some  days  after,  lo  !  at  the  same  silent  hour,  it  was  again 
announced :  again  it  was  descried  by  all ;  but  upon  making  sail 
to  overtake  it,  once  more  it  disappeared  as  if  it  had  never  been. 
And  so  it  served  us  night  after  night,  till  no  one  heeded  it  but 
to  wonder  at  it.  Mysteriously  jetted  into  the  clear  moonlight, 
or  starlight,  as  the  case  might  be ;  disappearing  again  for  one 
whole  day,  or  two  days,  or  three ;  and  somehow  seeming  at 
every  distinct  repetition  to  be  advancing  still  further  and 
further  in  our  van,  this  solitary  jet  seemed  •  for  ever  alluring 
us  on. 

Nor  with  the  immemorial  superstition  of  their  race,  and  in 


260  THE    SPIRIT- SPOUT. 

accordance  with  the  preternaturalness,  as  it  seemed,  which  in 
many  things  invested  the  Pequod,  were  there  wanting  some  of 
the  seamen  who  swore  that  whenever  and  wherever  descried ; 
at  however  remote  times,  or  in  however  far  apart  latitudes  and 
longitudes,  that  unnearable  spout  was  cast  by  one  self-same 
whale ;  and  that  whale,  Moby  Dick.  For  a  time,  there  reigned, 
too,  a  sense  of  peculiar  dread  at  this  flitting  apparition,  as  if  it 
were  treacherously  beckoning  us  on  and  on,  in  order  that  the 
monster  might  turn  round  upon  us,  and  rend  us  at  last  in  the 
remotest  and  most  savage  seas. 

These  temporary  apprehensions,  so  vague  but  so  awful, 
derived  a  wondrous  potency  from  the  contrasting  serenity  of  the 
weather,  in  which,  beneath  all  its  blue  blandness,  some  thought 
there  lurked  a  devilish  charm,  as  for  days  and  days  we  voyaged 
along,  through  seas  so  wearily,  lonesomely  mild,  that  all  space, 
in  repugnance  to  our  vengeful  errand,  seemed  vacating  itself  of 
life  before  our  urn-like  prow. 

But,  at  last,  when  turning  to  the  eastward,  the  Cape  winds 
began  howling  around  us,  and  we  rose  and  fell  upon  the  long, 
troubled  seas  that  are  there ;  when  the  ivory-tusked  Pequod 
sharply  bowed  to  the  blast,  and  gored  the  dark  waves  in 
her  madness,  till,  like  showers  of  silver  chips,  the  foam- 
flakes  flew  over  her  bulwarks ;  then  all  this  desolate  vacuity 
of  life  went  away,  but  gave  place  to  sights  more  dismal  than 
before. 

Close  to  our  bows,  strange  forms  in  the  water  darted  hither 
and  thither  before  us ;  while  thick  in  our  rear  flew  the  inscru- 
table sea-ravens.  And  every  morning,  perched  on  our  stays, 
rows  of  these  birds  were  seen ;  and  spite  of  our  hootings,  for  a 
long  time  obstinately  clung  to  the  hemp,  as  though  they 
deemed  our  ship  some  drifting,  uninhabited  craft;  a  thing 
appointed  to  desolation,  and  therefore  fit  roosting-place  for  their 
homeless  selves.  And  heaved  and  heaved,  still  unrestingly 
heaved  the  black  sea,  as  if  its  vast  tides  were  a  conscience ;  and 


THE    SPIRIT-SPOUT.  261 

the  great  mundane  soul  were  in  anguish  and  remorse  for  the 
long  sin  and  suffering  it  had  bred. 

Cape  of  Good  Hope,  do  they  call  ye  ?  Rather  Cape  Tor- 
mentoto,  as  called  of  yore  ;  for  long  allured  by  the  perfidious 
silences  that  before  had  attended  us,  we  found  ourselves 
launched  into  this  tormented  sea,  where  guilty  beings  trans- 
formed into  those  fowls  and  these  fish,  seemed  condemned 
to  swim  on  everlastingly  without  any  haven  in  store,  or  beat 
that  black  air  without  any  horizon.  But  calm,  snow-white,  and 
unvarying ;  still  directing  its  fountain  of  feathers  to  the  sky ; 
still  beckoning  us  on  from  before,  the  solitary  jet  would  at 
times  be  descried. 

During  all  this  blackness  of  the  elements,  Ahab,  though 
assuming  for  the  time  the  almost  continual  command  of  the 
drenched  and  dangerous  deck,  manifested  the  gloomiest  reserve ; 
and  more  seldom  than  ever  addressed  his  mates.  In  tempestu- 
ous times  like  these,  after  everything  above  and  aloft  has  been 
secured,  nothing  more  can  be  done  but  passively  to  await  the 
issue  of  the  gale.  Then  Captain  and  crew  become  practical 
fatalists.  So,  with  his  ivory  leg  inserted  into  its  accustomed 
hole,  and  with  one  hand  firmly  grasping  a  shroud,  Ahab  for 
hours  and  hours  would  stand  gazing  dead  to  windward,  while 
an  occasional  squall  of  sleet  or  snow  would  all  but  congeal  his 
very  eyelashes  together.  Meantime,  the  crew  driven  from  the 
forward  part  of  the  ship  by  the  perilous  seas  that  burstingly 
broke  over  its  bows,  stood  in  a  line  along  the  bulwarks  in  the 
waist ;  and  the  better  to  guard  against  the  leaping  waves,  each 
man  had  slipped  himself  into  a  sort  of  bowline  secured  to  the 
rail,  in  which  he  swung  as  in  a  loosened  belt.  Few  or  no  words 
were  spoken ;  and  the  silent  ship,  as  if  manned  by  painted 
sailors  in  wax,  day  after  day  tore  on  through  all  the  swift  mad- 
ness and  gladness  of  the  demoniac  waves.  By  night  the  same 
muteness  of  humanity  before  the  shrieks  of  the  ocean  prevailed ; 
still  in  silence  the  men  swung  in  the  bowlines ;  still  wordless 


262  THE    ALBATROSS. 

Ahab  stood  uj)  to  the  blast.  Even  when  wearied  nature  seemed 
demanding  repose  he  would  not  seek  that  repose  in  his  ham- 
mock. Never  could  Starbuck  forget  the  old  man's  aspect,  when 
one  night  going  down  into  the  cabin  to  mark  how  the  barometer 
stood,  he  saw  him  with  closed  eyes  sitting  straight  in  his  floor- 
screwed  chair  ;  the  rain,  and  half-melted  sleet  of  the  storm  from 
which  he  had  some  time  before  emerged,  still  slowly  dripping 
from  the  unremoved  hat  and  coat.  On  the  table  beside  him 
lay  unrolled  one  of  those  charts  of  tides  and  currents  which 
have  previously  been  spoken  of.  His  lantern  swung  fr6m  his 
tightly  clenched  hand.  Though  the  body  was  erect,  the  heafl. 
was  thrown  back  so  that  the  closed  eyes  were  pointed  towards 
the  needle  of  the  tell-tale  that  swung  from  a  beam  in  the  ceil- 
ing.* 

Terrible  old  man  !  thought  Starbuck  with  a  shudder,  sleeping 
in  this  gale,  still  thou  steadfastly  eyest  thy  purpose. 


CHAPTER  LII. 

THE    ALBATROSS. 

South-eastward  from  the  Cape,  off  the  distant  Crozetts,  a 
good  cruising  ground  for  Right  Whalemen,  a  sail  loomed 
ahead,  the  Goney  (Albatross)  by  name.  As  she  slowly  drew 
nigh,  from  my  lofty  perch  at  the  fore-mast-head,  I  had  a  good 
view  of  that  sight  so  remarkable  to  a  tyro  in  the  far  ocean 
fisheries — a  whaler  at  sea,  and  long  absent  from  home. 

As  if  the  waves  had  been  fullers,  this  craft  was  bleached  like 
the  skeleton  of  a  stranded  walrus.    All  down  her  sides,  this 

*  The  cabin-compass  is  called  the  tell-tale,  because  without  going  to 
the  compass  at  the  helm,  the  Captain,  while  below,  can  inform  himself  of 
the  course  of  the  ship. 


THEALBATROSS.  263 

spectral  appearance  was  traced  with  long  channels  of  reddened 
rust,  while  all  her  spare  and  her  rigging  were  like  the  thick 
branches  of  trees  furred  over  with  hoar-frost.  Only  her  lower 
sails  were  set.  A  wild  sight  it  was  to  see  her  long-bearded 
look-outs  at  those  three  mast-heads.  They  seemed  clad  in  the 
skins  of  beasts,  so  torn  and  bepatched  the  raiment  that  had 
survived  nearly  four  years  of  cruising.  Standing  in  iron  hoops 
nailed  to  the  mast,  they  swayed  and  swung  over  a  fathomless 
sea ;  and  though,  when  the  ship  slowly  glided  close  under  our 
stern,  we  six  men  in  the  air  came  so  nigh  to  each  other  that  we 
might  almost  have  leaped  from  the  mast-heads  of  one  ship  to 
those  of  the  other ;  yet,  those  forlorn-looking  fishermen,  mildly 
eyeing  us  as  they  passed,  said  not  one  word  to  our  own  look- 
outs, while  the  quarter-deck  hail  was  being  heard  from  below. 
"  Ship  ahoy !  Have  ye  seen  the  White  Whale  ? " 
But  as  the  strange  captain,  leaning  over  the  pallid  bulwarks, 
was  in  the  act  of  putting  his  trumpet  to  his  mouth,  it  somehow 
fell  from  his  hand  into  the  sea;  and  the  wind  now  rising 
amain,  he  in  vain  strove  to  make  himself  heard  without  it. 
Meantime  his  ship  was  still  increasing  the  distance  between. 
While  in  various  silent  ways  the  seamen  of  the  Pequod  were 
evincing  their  observance  of  this  ominous  incident  at  the  first 
mere  mention  of  the  White  Whale's  name  to  another  ship, 
Ahab  for  a  moment  paused ;  it  almost  seemed  as  though  he 
would  have  lowered  a  boat  to  board  the  stranger,  had  not  the 
threatening  wind  forbade.  But  taking  advantage  of  his  wind- 
ward position,  he  again  seized  his  trumpet,  and  knowing  by  her 
aspect  that  the  stranger  vessel  was  a  Nantucketer  and  shortly 
bound  home,  he  loudly  hailed — "  Ahoy  there !  This  is  the 
Pequod,  bound  round  the  world!  Tell  them  to  address  all 
future  letters  to  the  Pacific  ocean !  and  this  time  three  years,  if 

I  am  not  at  home,  tell  them  to  address  them  to " 

At  that   moment  the   two  wakes  were  fairly  crossed,  and 
instantly,  then,  in  accordance  with  their  singular  ways,  shoals 


264  THE    GAM. 


of  small  harmless  fish,  that  for  some  days  hefore  had  been 
placidly  swimming  by  our  side,  darted  away  with  what  seemed 
shuddering  fins,  and  ranged  themselves  fore  and  aft  with  the 
stranger's  flanks.  Though  in  the  course  of  his  continual  voyag- 
ings  Ahab  must  often  before  have  noticed  a  similar  sight,  yet, 
to  any  monomaniac  man,  the  veriest  trifles  capriciously  carry 
meanings. 

"  Swim  away  from  me,  do  ye  ? "  murmured  Ahab,  gazing 
over  into  the  water.  There  seemed  but  little  in  the  words,  but 
the  tone  conveyed  more  of  deep  helpless  sadness  than  the  insane 
old  man  had  ever  before  evinced.  But  turning  to  the  steersman, 
who  thus  far  had  been  holding  the  ship  in  the  wind  to  diminish 
her  headway,  he  cried  out  in  his  old  lion  voice, — "  Up  helm ! 
Keep  her  off  round  the  world ! " 

Round  the  world !  There  is  much  in  that  sound  to  inspire 
proud  feelings ;  but  whereto  does  all  that  circumnavigation  con- 
duct? Only  through  numberless  perils  to  the  very  point  whence 
we  started,  where  those  that  we  left  behind  secure,  were  all  the 
time  before  us. 

Were  this  world  an  endless  plain,  and  by  sailing  eastward 
we  could  for  ever  reach  new  distances,  and  discover  sights  more 
sweet,  and  strange  than  any  Cyclades  or  Islands  of  King  Solo- 
mon, then  there  were  promise  in  the  voyage.  But  in  pursuit 
of  those  far  mysteries  we  dream  of,  or  in  tormented  chase 
of  that  demon  phantom  that,  some  time  or  other,  swims  before 
all  human  hearts  ;  while  chasing  such  over  this  round  globe,  they 
either  lead  us  on  in  ban-en  mazes  or  midway  leave  us  whelmed. 


CHAPTER  LIE. 

THE  GAM. 

The  ostensible  reason  why  Ahab  did  not  go  on  board  of  the 
whaler  we  had  spoken  was  this  :  the  wind  and  sea  betokened 


THE    GAM.  265 


storms.  But  even  had  this  not  been  the  case,  he  would  not 
after  all,  perhaps,  have  boarded  her — judging  by  his  subsequent 
conduct  on  similar  occasions — if  so  it  had  been  that,  by  the 
process  of  hailing,  he  had  obtained  a  negative  answer  to  the 
question  he  put.  For,  as  it  eventually  turned  out,  he  cared  not 
to  consort,  even  for  five  minutes,  with  any  stranger  captain, 
except  he  could  contribute  some  of  that  information  he  so 
absorbingly  sought.  But  all  this  might  remain  inadequately 
estimated,  were  not  something  said  here  of  the  peculiar  usages 
of  whaling-vessels  when  meeting  each  other  in  foreign  seas,  and 
especially  on  a  common  cruising-ground. 

If  two  strangers  crossing  the  Pine  Barrens  in  New  York 
State,  or  the  equally  desolate  Salisbury  Plain  in  England ;  if 
casually  encountering  each  other  in  such  inhospitable  wilds, 
these  twain,  for  the  life  of  them,  cannot  well  avoid  a  mutual 
salutation  ;  and  stopping  for  a  moment  to  interchange  the  news  ; 
and,  perbaps,  sitting  down  for  a  while  and  resting  in  concert : 
then,  how  much  more  natural  that  upon  the  illimitable  Pine 
Barrens  and  Salisbury  Plains  of  the  sea,  two  whaling  vessels 
descrying  each  other  at  the  ends  of  the  earth — off  lone  Fan- 
ning's  Island,  or  the  far  away  King's  Mills ;  how  much  more 
natural,  I  say,  that  under  such  circumstances  these  ships  should 
not  only  interchange  hails,  but  come  into  still  closer,  more 
friendly  and  sociable  contact.  And  especially  would  this  seem  to 
be  a  matter  of  course,  in  the  case  of  vessels  owned  in  one  sea- 
port, and  whose  captains,  officers,  and  not  a  few  of  the  men  are 
personally  known  to  each  other ;  and  consequently,  have  all  sorts 
of  dear  domestic  things  to  talk  about. 

For  the  long  absent  ship,  the  outward-bounder,  perhaps,  has 
letters  on  board ;  at  any  rate,  she  will  be  sure  to  let  her  have 
some  papers  of  a  date  a  year  or  two  later  than  the  last  one  on 
her  blurred  and  thumb-worn  files.  And  in  return  for  that 
courtesy,  the  outward-bound  ship  would  receive  the  latest  whal- 
ing intelligence  from  the  cruising-ground  to  which  she  may  be 

12 


266  THE    GAM, 


destined,  a  thing  of  the  utmost  importance  to  her.  And  in  de- 
gree, all  this  will  hold  true  concerning  whaling  vessels  crossing 
each  other's  track  on  the  cruising-ground  itself,  even  though  they 
are  equally  long  absent  from  home.  For  one  of  them  may  have 
received  a  transfer  of  letters  from  some  third,  and  now  far  remote 
vessel ;  and  some  of  those  letters  may  be  for  the  people  of  the 
ship  she  now  meets.  Besides,  they  would  exchange  the  whal- 
ing news,  and  have  an  agreeable  chat.  For  not  only  would 
they  meet  with  all  the  sympathies  of  sailors,  but  likewise  with  all 
the  peculiar  congenialities  arising  from  a  common  pursuit  and 
mutually  shared  privations  and  perils. 

Nor  would  difference  of  country  make  any  very  essential  dif- 
ference ;  that  is,  so  long  as  both  parties  speak  one  language,  as 
is  the  case  with  Americans  and  English.  Though,  to  be  sure, 
from  the  small  number  of  English  whalers,  such  meetings  do  not 
very  often  occur,  and  when  they  do  occur  there  is  too  apt  to  be 
a  sort  of  shyness  between  them ;  for  your  Englishman  is  rather 
reserved,  and  your  Yankee,  he  does  not  fancy  that  sort  of  thing 
in  anybody  but  himself.  Besides,  the  English  whalers  some- 
times affect  a  kind  of  metropolitan  superiority  over  the  Ameri- 
can whalers ;  regarding  the  long,  lean  Nantucketer,  with  his 
nondescript  provincialisms,  as  a  sort  of  sea-peasant.  But  where 
this  superiority  in  the  English  whalemen  does  really  consist,  it 
would  be  hard  to  say,  seeing  that  the  Yankees  in  one  day, 
collectively,  kill  more  whales  than  all  the  English,  collectively,  in 
ten  years.  But  this  is  a  harmless  little  foible  in  the  English  whale- 
hunters,  which  the  Nantucketer  does  not  take  much  to  heart ; 
probably,  because  he  knows  that  he  has  a  few  foibles  himself. 

So,  then,  we  see  that  of  all  ships  separately  sailing  the  sea, 
the  whalers  have  most  reason  to  be  sociable — and  they  are  so. 
Whereas,  some  merchant  ships  crossing  each  other's  wake  in  the 
mid- Atlantic,  will  oftentimes  pass  on  without  so  much  as  a  sin- 
gle word  of  recognition,  mutually  cutting  each  other  on  the 
high  seas,  like  a  brace  of  dandies  in  Broadway ;  and  all  the 


THE    GAM.  267 


time  indulging,  perhaps,  in  finical  criticism  upon  each  other's 
rig.  As  for  Men-of-War,  when  they  chance  to  meet  at  sea, 
they  first  go  through  such  a  string  of  silly  bowings  and  scrap- 
ings, such  a  ducking  of  ensigns,  that  there  does  not  seem  to  be 
much  right-down  hearty  good-will  and  brotherly  love  about  it 
at  all. .  As  touching  Slave-ships  meeting,  why,  they  are  in  such 
a  prodigious  huny,  they  run  away  from  each  other  as  soon  as 
possible.  And  as  for  Pirates,  when  they  chance  to  cross  each 
other's  cross-bones,  the  first  hail  is — "  How  many  skulls  ?  " — ■ 
the  same  way  that  whalers  hail — "  How  many  barrels  ? "  And 
that  question  once  answered,  pirates  straightway  steer  apart,  for 
they  are  infernal  villains  on  both  sides,  and  don't  like  to  see 
overmuch  of  each  other's  villanous  likenesses. 

But  look  at  the  godly,,  honest,  unostentatious,  hospitable, 
sociable,  free-and-easy  whaler !  What  does  the  whaler  do  when 
she  meets  another  whaler  in  any  sort  of  decent  weather  ?  She 
has  a  "  Gam"  a  thing  so  utterly  unknown  to  all  other  ships 
that  they  never  heard  of  the  name  even;  and  if  by  chance 
they  should  hear  of  it,  they  only  grin  at  it,  and  repeat  game- 
some stuff  about  "  spouters  "  and  "  blubber-boilers,"  and  such 
like  pretty  exclamations.  Why  it  is  that  all  Merchant-seamen, 
and  also  all  Pirates  and  Man-of- War's  men,  and  Slave-ship 
sailors,  cherish  such  a  scornful  feeling  towards  Whale-ships ; 
this  is  a  question  it  would  be  hard  to  answer.  Because,  in  the 
case  of  pirates,  say,  I  should  like  to  know  whether  that  profes- 
sion of  theirs  has  any  peculiar  glory  about  it.  It  sometimes 
ends  in  uncommon  elevation,  indeed ;  but  only  at  the  gallows. 
And  besides,  when  a  man  is  elevated  in  that  odd  fashion,  he  has 
no  proper  foundation  for  his  superior  altitude.  Hence,  I  con- 
clude, that  in  boasting  himself  to  be  high  lifted  above  a  whale- 
man, in  that  assertion  the  pirate  has  no  solid  basis  to  stand  on. 

But  what  is  a  Gam  ?  You  might  wear  out  your  index-finger 
running  up  and  down  the  columns  of  dictionaries,  and  never 
find  the  word.     Dr.  Johnson  never  attained  to  that  erudition  j 


268  THE    GAM. 


Noah  Webster's  ark  does  not  hold  it.  Nevertheless,  this  same 
expressive  word  has  now  for  many  years  been  in  constant  use 
among  some  fifteen  thousand  true  born  Yankees.  Certainly,  it 
needs  a  definition,  and  should  be  incorporated  into  the  Lexicon. 
With  that  view,  let  me  learnedly  define  it. 

GAM.  Noun — A  social  meeting  of  two  (or  more)  Whale- 
ships,  generally  on  a  cruising-ground  ;  when,  after  exchanging 
hails,  they  exchange  visits  by  boats'1  crews :  the  two  captains 
remaining,  for  the  time,  on  board  of  one  ship,  and  the  two 
chief  mates  on  the  other. 

There  is  another  little  item  about  Gamming  which  must  not 
be  forgotten  here.  All  professions  have  their  own  little  peculiari- 
ties of  detail ;  so  has  the  whale  fishery.  In  a  pirate,  man-of- 
war,  or  slave  ship,  when  the  captain  is  rowed  anywhere  in  his 
boat,  he  always  sits  in  the  stern  sheets  on  a  comfortable,  some- 
times cushioned  seat  there,  and  often  steers  himself  with  a 
pretty  little  milliner's  tiller  decorated  with  gay  cords  and  rib- 
bons. But  the  whale-boat  has  no  seat  astern,  no  sofa  of  that 
sort  whatever,  and  no  tiller  at  all.  High  times  indeed,  if  whal- 
ing captains  were  wheeled  about  the  water  on  castors  like  gouty 
old  aldermen  in  patent  chairs.  And  as  for  a  tiller,  the  whale- 
boat  never  admits  of  any  such  effeminacy ;  and  therefore  as  in 
gamming  a  complete  boat's  crew  must  leave  the  ship,  and  hence 
as  the  boat  steerer  or  harpooneer  is  of  the  number,  that  subordi- 
nate is  the  steersman  upon  the  occasion,  and  the  captain,  having 
no  place  to  sit  in,  is  pulled  off  to  his  visit  all  standing  like  a  pine 
tree.  And  often  you  will  notice  that  being  conscious  of  the  eyes 
of  the  whole  visible  world  resting  on  him  from  the  sides  of  the 
two  ships,  this  standing  captain  is  all  alive  to  the  importance 
of  sustaining  his  dignity  by  maintaining  his  legs.  Nor  is  this 
any  very  easy  matter ;  for  in  his  rear  is  the  immense  projecting 
steering  oar  hitting  him  now  and  then  in  the  small  of  his  back, 
the  after-oar  reciprocating  by  rapping  his  knees  in  front.  He 
is  thus  completely  wedged  before  and  behind,  and  can  only  ex- 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  269 

pand  himself  sideways  by  settling  down  on  his  stretched  legs ; 
but  a  sudden,  violent  pitch  of  the  boat  will  often  go  far  to  topple 
him,  because  length  of  foundation  is  nothing  without  correspond- 
ing breadth.  Merely  make  a  spread  angle  of  two  poles,  and 
you  cannot  stand  them  up.  Then,  again,  it  would  never  do  in 
plain  sight  of  the  world's  riveted  eyes,  it  would  never  do,  I  say, 
for  this  straddling  captain  to  be  seen  steadying  himself  the 
slightest  particle  by  catching  hold  of  anything  with  his  hands ; 
indeed,  as  token  of  his  entire,  buoyant  self-command,  he  gene- 
rally carries  his  hands  in  his  trowsers'  pockets ;  but  perhaps  be- 
ing generally  very  large,  heavy  hands,  he  carries  them  there  for 
ballast.  Nevertheless  there  have  occurred  instances,  well  authen- 
ticated ones  too,  where  the  captain  has  been  known  for  an 
uncommonly  critical  moment  or  two,  in  a  sudden  squall  say — 
to  seize  hold  of  the  nearest  oarsman's  hair,  and  hold  on  there 
like  grim  death. 


CHAPTER  LIV. 

THE    TOWN-HO's^TORT. 

(As  told  at  the  Golden  Inn.) 

The  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  all  the  watery  region  round 
about  there,  is  much  like  some  noted  four  corners  of  a  great 
highway,  where  you  meet  more  travellers  than  in  any  other  part. 

It  was  not  very  long  after  speaking  the  Coney  that  another 
homeward-bound  whaleman,  the  Town-Ho,*  was  encountered. 
She  was  manned  almost  wholly  by  Polynesians.  In  the  short  gam 
that  ensued  she  gave  us  strong  news  of  Moby  Dick.  To  some 
the  general  interest  in  the  White  Whale  was  now  wildly  height- 

*  The  ancient  whale-cry  upon  first  sighting  a  whale  from  the  mast- 
head, still  used  by  whalemen  in  hunting  the  famous  Gallipagos  terrapin. 


270  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

ened  by  a  circumstance  of  the  Town-Ho's  -  stoiy,  which  seemed 
obscurely  to  involve  with  the  whale  a  certain  wondrous,  invert- 
ed visitation  of  one  of  those  so  called  judgments  of  God  which 
at  times  are  said  to  overtake  some  men.  This  latter  circum- 
stance, with  its  own  particular  accompaniments,  forming  what 
may  be  called  the  secret  part  of  the  tragedy  about  to  be  narrat- 
ed, never  reached  the  ears  of  Captain  Ahab  or  his  mates. 
For  that  secret  part  of  the  story  was  unknown  to  the  captain  of 
the  Town-Ho  himself.  It  was  the  private  property  of  three 
confederate  white  seamen  of  that  ship,  one  of  whom,  it  seems, 
communicated  it  to  Tashtego  with  Romish  injunctions  of  secresy, 
but  the  following  night  Tashtego  rambled  in  his  sleep,  and  re- 
vealed so  much  of  it  in  that  way,  that  when  he  was  wakened 
he  could  not  well  withhold  the  rest.  Nevertheless,  so  potent  an 
influence  did  this  thing  have  on  those  seamen  in  the  Pequod 
who  came  to  the  full  knowledge  of  it,  and  by  such  a  strange 
delicacy,  to  call  it  so,  were  they  governed  in  this  matter,  that 
they  kept  the  secret  among  themselves  so  that  it  never  trans- 
pired abaft  the  Pequod's  main-mast.  Interweaving  in  its  proper 
place  this  darker  thread  with  the  story  as  publicly  narrated  on 
the  ship,  the  whole  of  this  strange  affair  I  now  proceed  to  put 
on  lasting  record. 

For  my  humor's  sake,  I  shall  preserve  the  style  in  which  I 
once  narrated  it  at  Lima,  to  a  lounging  circle  of  my  Spanish 
friends,  one  saint's  eve,  smoking  upon  the  thick-gilt  tiled  piazza 
of  the  Golden  Inn.  Of  those  fine  cavaliers,  the  young  Dons, 
Pedro  and  Sebastian,  were  on  the  closer  terms  with  me;  and 
hence  the  interluding  questions  they  occasionally  put,  and  which 
are  duly  answered  at  the  time. 

"  Some  two  years  prior  to  my  first  learning  the  events  which 
I  am  about  rehearsing  to  you,  gentlemen,  the  Town-Ho,  Sperm 
"Whaler  of  Nantucket,  was  cruising  in  your  Pacific  here,  not  very 
many  days'  sail  eastward  from  the  eaves  of  this  good  Golden 
Inn.     She  was  somewhere  to  the  northward  of  the  Line.     One 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  271 

morning  upon  handling  the  pumps,  according  to  daily  usage,  it 
was  observed  that  she  made  more  water  in  her  hold  than  com- 
mon. They  supposed  a  sword-fish  had  stabbed  her,  gentlemen. 
But  the  captain,  having  some  unusual  reason  for  believing  that 
rare  good  luck  awaited  him  in  those  latitudes ;  and  therefore 
being  very  averse  to  quit  them,  and  the  leak  not  being  then 
considered  at  all  dangerous,  though,  indeed,  they  could  not  find 
it  after  searching  the  hold  as  low  down  as  was  possible  in  rather 
heavy  weather,  the  ship  still  continued  her  cruisings,  the  ma- 
riners working  at  the  pumps  at  wide  and  easy  intervals ;  but 
no  good  luck  came ;  more  days  went  by,  and  not  only  was  the 
leak  yet  undiscovered,  but  it  sensibly  increased.  So  much  so, 
that  now  taking  some  alarm,  the  captain,  making  all  sail,  stood 
away  for  the  nearest  harbor  among  the  islands,  there  to  have 
his  hull  hove  out  and  repaired. 

"  Though  no  small  passage  was  before  her,  yet,  if  the  com- 
monest chance  favored,  he  did  not  at  all  fear  that  his  ship  would 
founder  by  the  way,  because  his  pumps  were  of  the  best,  and 
being  periodically  relieved  at  them,  those  six-and-thirty  men  of 
his  could  easily  keep  the  ship  free ;  never  mind  if  the  leak  should 
double  on  her.  In  truth,  well  nigh  the  whole  of  this  passage 
being  attended  by  very  prosperous  breezes,  the  Town-Ho  had 
all  but  certainly  arrived  in  perfect  safety  at  her  port  without 
the  occurrence  of  the  least  fatality,  had  it  not  been  for  the  brutal 
overbearing  of  Radney,  the  mate,  a  Vineyarder,  and  the  bitterly 
provoked  vengeance  of  Steelkilt,  a  Lakeman  and  desperado 
from  Buffalo." 

" '  Lakeman ! — Buffalo !  Pray,  what  is  a  Lakeman,  and  where 
is  Buffalo  V  said  Don  Sebastian,  rising  in  his  swinging  mat  of 
grass. 

"  On  the  eastern  shore  of  our  Lake  Erie,  Don ;  but — I  crave  your 
courtesy — may  be,  you  shall  soon  hear  further  of  all  that.  Now, 
gentlemen,  in  square-sail  brigs  and  three-masted  ships,  well  nigh 
as  large  and  stout  as  any  that  ever  sailed  out  of  your  old  Callao  to 


272  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

far  Manilla ;  this  Lakeman,  in  the  land-locked  heart  of  our  Ameri- 
ca, had  yet  heen  nurtured  by  all  those  agrarian  freebooting  im- 
pressions popularly  connected  with  the  open  ocean.  For  in  their 
interflowing  aggregate,  those  grand  fresh-water  seas  of  ours, 
— Erie,  and  Ontario,  and  Huron,  and  Superior,  and  Michigan, — 
possess  an  ocean-like  expansiveness,  with  many  of  the  ocean's  no- 
blest traits ;  with  many  of  its  rimmed  varieties  of  races  and  of 
climes.  They  contain  round  archipelagoes  of  romantic  isles, 
even  as  the  Polynesian  waters  do  ;  in  large  part,  are  shored  by 
two  great  contrasting  nations,  as  the  Atlantic  is ;  they  furnish 
long  maritime  approaches  to  our  numerous  territorial  colonies 
from  the  East,  dotted  all  round  their  banks ;  here  and  there  are 
frowned  upon  by  batteries,  and  by  the  goat-like  craggy  guns  of 
lofty  Mackinaw ;  they  have  heard  the  fleet  thunderings  of  naval 
victories ;  at  intervals,  they  yield  then-  beaches  to  wild  barba- 
rians, whose  red  painted  faces  flash  from  out  their  peltry  wig- 
wams ;  for  leagues  and  leagues  are  flanked  by  ancient  and 
unentered  forests,  where  the  gaunt  pines  stand  like  serried  lines 
of  kings  in  Gothic  genealogies ;  those  same  woods  harboring 
wild  Afric  beasts  of  prey,  and  silken  creatures  whose  exported 
furs  give  robes  to  Tartar  Emperors ;  they  mirror  the  paved 
capitals  of  Buffalo  and  Cleveland,  as  well  as  Winnebago 
villages;  they  float  alike  the  full-rigged  merchant  ship,  the 
armed  cruiser  of  the  State,  the  steamer,  and  the  beech  canoe ; 
they  are  swept  by  Borean  and  dismasting  blasts  as  direful  as  any 
that  lash  the  salted  wave ;  they  know  what  shipwrecks  are,  for 
out  of  sight  of  land,  however  inland,  they  have  drowned  full 
many  a  midnight  ship  with  all  its  shrieking  crew.  Thus,  gen- 
tlemen, though  an  inlander,  Steelkilt  was  wild-ocean  born,  and 
Avild-ocean  nurtured ;  as  much  of  an  audacious  mariner  as  any. 
And  for  Radney,  though  in  his  infancy  he  may  have  laid  him 
down  on  the  lone  Nantucket  beach,  to  nurse  at  his  maternal  sea ; 
though  in  after  life  he  had  long  followed  our  austere  Atlantic 
and  your  contemplative  Pacific ;  yet  was  he  quite  as  vengeful 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  273 

and  full  of  social  quarrel  as  the  backwoods  seaman,  fresh 
from  the  latitudes  of  buck-horn  handled  Bowie-knives.  Yet 
was  this  Nantucketer  a  man  with  some  good-hearted  traits  ;  and 
this  Lakeman,  a  mariner,  who  though  a  sort  of  devil  indeed, 
might  yet  by  inflexible  firmness,  only  tempered  by  that  common 
decency  of  human  recognition  which  is  the  meanest  slave's 
right ;  thus  treated,  this  Steelkilt  had  long  been  retained  harm- 
less and  docile.  At  all  events,  he  had  proved  so  thus  far ;  but 
Eadney  was  doomed  and  made  mad,  and  Steelkilt — but,  gentle- 
men, you  shall  hear. 

"  It  was  not  more  than  a  day  or  two  at  the  furthest  after  point- 
ing her  prow  for  her  island  haven,  that  the  Town-Ho's  leak 
seemed  again  increasing,  but  only  so  as  to  require  an  hour  or 
more  at  the  pumps  every  day.  You  must  know  that  in  a  set- 
tled and  civilized  ocean  like  our  Atlantic,  for  example,  some 
skippers  think  little  of  pumping  their  whole  way  across  it; 
though  of  a  still,  sleepy  night,  should  the  officer  of  the  deck  happen 
to  forget  his  duty  in  that  respect,  the  probability  would  be  that 
he  and  his  shipmates  would  never  again  remember  it,  on  ac- 
count of  all  hands  gently  subsiding  to  the  bottom.  #  Nor  in  the 
solitary  and  savage  seas  far  from  you  to  the  westward,  gentle- 
men, is  it  altogether  unusual  for  ships  to  keep  clanging  at  their 
pump-handles  in  full  chorus  even  for  a  voyage  of  considerable 
length ;  that  is,  if  it  lie  along  a  tolerably  accessible  coast,  or  if 
any  other  reasonable  retreat  is  afforded  them.  It  is  only  when 
a  leaky  vessel  is  in  some  very  out  of  the  way  part  of  those 
waters,  some  really  landless  latitude,  that  her  captain  begins  to 
feel  a  little  anxious. 

"  Much  this  way  had  it  been  with  the  Town-Ho ;  so  when  her 
leak  was  found  gaining  once  more,  there  was  in  truth  some  small 
concern  manifested  by  several  of  her  company ;  especially  by 
Radney  the  mate.  He  commanded  the  upper  sails  to  be  well 
hoisted,  sheeted  home  anew,  and  every  way  expanded  to  the 
breeze.     Now  this  Radney,  I  suppose,  was  as  little  of  a  coward, 

12* 


274  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

and  as  little  inclined  to  any  sort  of  nervous  apprehonsiveness 
touching  his  own  person  as  any  fearless,  unthinking  creature  on 
land  or  on  sea  that  you  can  conveniently  imagine,  gentlemen. 
Therefore  when  he  betrayed  this  solicitude  about  the  safety  of  the 
ship,  some  of  the  seamen  declared  that  it  was  only  on  account 
of  his  being  a  part  owner  in  her.  So  when  they  were  working 
that  evening  at  the  pumps,  there  was  on  this  head  no  small 
gamesomeness  slily  going  on  among  them,  as  they  stood  with 
their  feet  continually  overflowed  by  the  rippling  clear  water ; 
clear  as  any  mountain  spring,  gentlemen — that  bubbling  from 
the  pumps  ran  across  the  deck,  and  poured  itself  out  in  steady 
spouts  at  the  lee  scupper-holes. 

"  Now,  as  you  well  know,  it  is  not  seldom  the  case  in  this  con- 
ventional world  of  ours — watery  or  otherwise ;  that  when  a 
person  placed  in  command  over  his  fellow-men  finds  one  of 
them  to  be  very  significantly  his  superior  in  general  pride  of 
manhood,  straightway  against  that  man  he  conceives  an  uncon- 
querable dislike  and  bitterness ;  and  if  he  have  a  chance  he 
will  pull  down  and  pulverize  that  subaltern's  tower,  and  make 
a  little  heap  of  dust  of  it.  Be  this  conceit  of  mine  as  it  may, 
gentlemen,  at  all  events  Steelkilt  was  a  tall  and  noble  animal 
with  a  head  like  a  Roman,  and  a  flowing  golden  beard  like  the 
tasseled  housings  of  your  last  viceroy's  snorting  charger  ;  and  a 
brain,  and  a  heart,  and  a  soul  in  him,  gentlemen,  which  had  made 
Steelkilt  Charlemagne,  had  he  been  born  son  to  Charlemagne's 
father.  But  Radney,  the  mate,  was  ugly  as  a  mule ;  yet  as 
hardy,  as  stubborn,  as  malicious.  He  did  not  love  Steelkilt, 
and  Steelkilt  knew  it. 

"  Espying  the  mate  drawing  near  as  he  was  toiling  at  the  pump 
with  the  rest,  the  Lakeman  affected  not  to  notice  him,  but  inl- 
awed, went  on  with  his  gay  banterings. 

"  '  Aye,  aye,  my  merry  lads,  it's  a  lively  leak  this ;  hold  a 
cannikin,  one  of  ye,  and  let's  have  a  taste.  By  the  Lord,  it's 
worth  bottling !     I  tell  ye  what,  men,  old  Rad's  investment 


THE    TO  WN-HO'S    STORY.  275 

must  go  for  it !  he  had  best  cut  away  his  part  of  the  hull  and 
tow  it  home.  The  fact  is,  boys,  that  sword-fish  only  began  the 
job ;  he's  come  back  again  with  a  gang  of  ship-carpenters, 
saw-fish,  and  file-fish,  and  what  not ;  and  the  whole  posse  of 
'em  are  now  hard  at  work  cutting  and  slashing  at  the  bottom ; 
making  improvements,  I  suppose.  If  old  Rad  were  here  now, 
I'd  tell  him  to  jump  overboard  and  scatter  'em.  They're  play- 
ing the  devil  with  his  estate,  I  can  tell  him.  But  he's  a  simple 
old  soul, — Rad,  and  a  beauty  too.  Boys,  they  say  the  rest  of 
his  property  is  invested  in  looking-glasses.  I  wonder  if  he'd 
give  a  poor  devil  like  me  the  model  of  his  nose." 

"  '  Damn  your  eyes !  what's  that  pump  stopping  for  ?'  roared 
Radney,  pretending  not  to  have  heard  the  sailors'  talk.  '  Thun- 
der away  at  it !' 

"  '  Aye,  aye,  sir,'  said  Steelkilt,  merry  as  a  cricket.  '  Lively, 
boys,  lively,  now !'  And  with  that  the  pump  clanged  like 
fifty  fire-engines ;  the  men  tossed  their  hats  off  to  it,  and  ere 
long  that  peculiar  gasping  of  the  lungs  was  heard  which  denotes 
the  fullest  tension  of  life's  utmost  energies. 

"  Quitting  the  pump  at  last,  with  the  rest  of  his  band,  the 
Lakeman  went  forward  all  panting,  and  sat  himself  down  on 
the  windlass ;  his  face  fiery  red,  his  eyes  bloodshot,  and  wiping 
the  profuse  sweat  from  his  brow.  Now  what  cozening  fiend 
it  was,  gentlemen,  that  possessed  Radney  to  meddle  with  such  a 
man  in  that  corporeally  exasperated  state,  I  know  not ;  but  so  it 
happened.  Intolerably  striding  along  the  deck,  the  mate  com- 
manded him  to  get  a  broom  and  sweep  down  the  planks,  and 
also  a  shovel,  and  remove  some  offensive  matters  consequent 
upon  allowing  a  pig  to  run  at  large. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  sweeping  a  ship's  deck  at  sea  is  a  piece  of 
household  work  which  in  all  times  but  raging  gales  is  regularly 
attended  to  eveiy  evening ;  it  has  been  known  to  be  done  in  the 
case  of  ships  actually  foundering  at  the  time.  Such,  gentlemen, 
is  the  inflexibility  of  sea-usages  and  the  instinctive  love  of  neat- 


276  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

noss  in  seamen ;  some  of  whom  would  not  willingly  drown  with- 
out first  washing  their  faces.  But  in  all  vessels  this  broom  business 
is  the  prescriptive  province  of  the  boys,  if  boys  there  be  aboard. 
Besides,  it  was  the  stronger  men  in  the  Town-Ho  that  had  been 
divided  into  gangs,  taking  turns  at  the  pumps  ;  and  being  the 
most  athletic  seaman  of  them  all,  Steelkilt  had  been  regularly 
assigned  captain  of  one  of  the  gangs ;  consequently  he  should 
have  been  freed  from  any  trivial  business  not  connected  with 
truly  nautical  duties,  such  being  the  case  with  his  comrades. 
I  mention  all  these  particulars  so  that  you  may  understand  ex- 
actly how  this  affair  stood  between  the  two  men. 

"  But  there  was  more  than  this :  the  order  about  the 
shovel  was  almost  as  plainly  meant  to  sting  and  insult  Steelkilt, 
as  though  Radney  had  spat  in  his  face.  Any  man  who  has 
gone  sailor  in  a  whale-ship  will  understand  this ;  and  all  this 
and  doubtless  much  more,  the  Lakeman  fully  comprehended 
when  the  mate  uttered  his  command.  But  as  he  sat  still  for  a 
moment,  and  as  he  steadfastly  looked  into  the  mate's  malignant 
eye  and  perceived  the  stacks  of  powder-casks  heaped  up  in  him 
and  the  slow-match  silently  burning  along  towards  them ;  as  he 
instinctively  saw  all  this,  that  strange  forbearance  and  unwilling- 
ness to  stir  up  the  deeper  passionateness  in  any  already  ireful 
being — a  repugnance  most  felt,  when  felt  at  all,  by  really  valiant 
men  even  when  aggrieved — this  nameless  phantom  feeling,  gen- 
tlemen, stole  over  Steelkilt. 

"  Therefore,  in  his  ordinary  tone,  only  a  little  broken  by  the 
bodily  exhaustion  he  was  temporarily  in,  he  answered  him 
saying  that  sweeping  the  deck  was  not  his  business,  and  he 
would  not  do  it.  And  then,  without  at  all  alluding  to  the  shovel, 
he  pointed  to  three  lads  as  the  customary  sweepers ;  who,  not 
being  billeted  at  the  pumps,  had  done  little  or  nothing  all  day. 
To  this,  Radney  replied  with  an  oath,  in  a  most  domineering  and 
outrageous  manner  unconditionally  reiterating  his  command ; 
meanwhile  advancing  upon  the  still  seated  Lakeman,  with  an 


THE    TOWN- HO' S    STORY.  277 

uplifted  cooper's  club  hammer  which  he  had  snatched  from  a 
cask  near  by. 

"  Heated  and  irritated  as  he  was  by  his  spasmodic  toil  at  the 
pumps,  for  all  his  first  nameless  feeling  of  forbearance  the 
sweating  Steelkilt  could  but  ill  brook  this  bearing  in  the  mate  ; 
but  somehow  still  smothering  the  conflagration  within  him, 
without  speaking  he  remained  doggedly  rooted  to  his  seat,  till 
at  last  the  incensed  Radney  shook  the  hammer  within  a  few 
inches  of  his  face,  furiously  commanding  him  to  do  his  bidding. 

"  Steelkilt  rose,  and  slowly  retreating  round  the  windlass,  stead- 
ily followed  by  the  mate  with  his  menacing  hammer,  deliberate- 
ly repeated  his  intention  not  to  obey.  Seeing,  however,  that  his 
forbearance  had  not  the  slightest  effect,  by  an  awful  and  un- 
speakable intimation  with  bis  twisted  hand  he  warned  off  the 
foolish  and  infatuated  man ;  but  it  was  to  no  purpose.  And  in 
this  way  the  two  went  once  slowly  round  the  windlass ;  when, 
resolved  at  last  no  longer  to  retreat,  bethinking  him  that  he 
had  now  forborne  as  much  as  comported  with  his  humor,  the 
Lakeman  paused  on  the  hatches  and  thus  spoke  to  the  officer  : 

" '  Mr.  Radney,  I  will  not  obey  you.  Take  that  hammer  away, 
or  look  to  yourself.'  But  the  predestinated  mate  coming  still 
closer  to  him,  where  the  Lakeman  stood  fixed,  now  shook  the 
heavy  hammer  within  an  inch  of  his  teeth ;  meanwhile  repeat- 
ing a  string  of  insufferable  maledictions.  Retreating  not  the 
thousandth  part  of  an  inch  ;  stabbing  him  in  the  eye  with  the 
unflinching  poniard  of  his  glance,  Steelkilt,  clenching  his  right 
hand  behind  him  and  creepingly  drawing  it  back,  told  his  per- 
secutor that  if  the  hammer  but  grazed  his  cheek  he  (Steelkilt) 
would  murder  him.  But,  gentlemen,  the  fool  had  been  branded 
for  the  slaughter  by  the  gods.  Immediately  the  hammer 
touched  the  cheek ;  the  next  instant  the  lower  jaw  of  the  mate 
was  stove  in  his  head ;  he  fell  on  the  hatch  spouting  blood  like 
a  whale. 

"  Ere  the  ciy  could  go  aft  Steelkilt  was  shaking  one  of  the 


278  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

backstays  leading  far  aloft  to  where  two  of  his  comrades  were 
standing  their  mast-heads.     They  were  both  Canallers. 

'  "  Canallers !'  cried  Don  Pedro.  " '  We  have  seen  many  whale- 
ships  in  our  harbors,  but  never  heard  of  your  Canallers.  Par- 
don :  who  and  what  are  they  ?' 

" '  Canallers,  Don,  are  the  boatmen  belonging  to  our  grand 
Erie  Canal.     You  must  have  heard  of  it.' 

"  '  Nay,  Senor ;  hereabouts  in  this  dull,  warm,  most  lazy,  and 
hereditary  land,  we  know  but  little  of  your  vigorous  North.' 

" '  Aye  ?  Well  then,  Don,  refill  my  cup.  Your  chicha's  very 
fine ;  and  ere  proceeding  further  I  will  tell  ye  what  our  Canal- 
lers are ;  for  such  information  may  throw  side-light  upon  my 
story.' 

"  For  three  hundred  and  sixty  miles ,  gentlemen,  through  the 
entire  breadth  of  the  state  of  New  York ;  through  numerous 
populous  cities  and  most  thriving  villages ;  through  long,  dismal, 
uninhabited  swamps,  and  affluent,  cultivated  fields,  unrivalled  for 
fertility  ;  by  billiard-room  and  bar-room  ;  through  the  holy-of- 
holies  of  great  forests ;  on  Roman  arches  over  Indian  rivers ; 
through  sun  and  shade  ;  by  happy  hearts  or  broken  ;  through 
all  the  wide  contrasting  scenery  of  those  noble  Mohawk  coun- 
ties ;  and  especially,  by  rows  of  snow-white  chapels,  whose 
spires  stand  almost  like  milestones,  flows  one  continual  stream 
of  Venetianly  corrupt  and  often  lawless  life.  There's  your  true 
Ashantee,  gentlemen ;  there  howl  your  pagans ;  where  you 
ever  find  them,  next  door  to  you ;  under  the  long-flung  shadow, 
and  the  snug  patronizing  lee  of  churches.  For  by  some  curious 
fatality,  as  it  is  often  noted  of  your  metropolitan  freebooters 
that  they  ever  encamp  around  the  halls  of  justice,  so  sinners, 
gentlemen,  most  abound  in  holiest  vicinities. 

"  '  Is  that  a  friar  passing  ?'  said  Don  Pedro,  looking  down- 
wards into  the  crowded  piazza,  with  humorous  concern. 

" '  Well  for  our  northern  friend,  Dame  Isabella's  Inquisi- 
tion wanes  in  Lima,'  laughed  Don  Sebastian.    '  Proceed,  Senor.' 


THE    TOWN-HOS    STORY.  279 

"'A  moment!  Pardon!'  cried  another  of  the  company. 
"  '  In  the  name  of  all  us  Limeese,  I  but  desire  to  express  to  you, 
sir  sailor,  that  we  have  by  no  means  overlooked  your  delicacy 
in  not  substituting  present  Lima  for  distant  Venice  in  your  cor- 
rupt comparison.  Oh !  do  not  bow  and  look  surprised ;  you 
know  the  proverb  all  along  this  coast — "  Corrupt  as  Lima."  It 
but  bears  out  your  saying,  too ;  churches  more  plentiful  than 
billiard-tables,  and  for  ever  open — and  "  Corrupt  as  Lima."  So, 
too,  Venice ;  I  have  been  there ;  the  holy  city  of  the  blessed 
evangelist,  St.  Mark ! — St.  Dominic,  purge  it !  Your  cup ! 
Thanks :  here  I  refill ;  now,  you  pour  out  again.' 

"  Freely  depicted  in  his  own  vocation,  gentlemen,  the  Ca- 
naller  would  make  a  fine  dramatic  hero,  so  abundantly  and  pic- 
turesquely wicked  is  he.  Like  Mark  Antony,  for  days  and  days 
along  his  green-turfed,  flowery  Nile,  he  indolently  floats,  openly 
toying  with  his  red-cheeked  Cleopatra,  ripening  his  apricot 
thigh  upon  the  sunny  deck.  But  ashore,  all  this  effeminacy  is 
dashed.  The  brigandish  guise  which  the  Canaller  so  proudly 
sports ;  his  slouched  and  gaily-ribboned  hat  betoken  his  grand 
features.  A  terror  to  the  smiling  innocence  of  the  villages 
through  which  he  floats ;  his  swart  visage  and  bold  swagger 
are  not  unshunned  in  cities.  Once  a  vagabond  on  his  own 
canal,  I  have  received  good  turns  from  one  of  these  Canallers ;  I 
thank  him  heartily  ;  would  fain  be  not  ungrateful ;  but  it  is  often 
one  of  the  prime  redeeming  qualities  of  your  man  of  violence, 
that  at  times  he  has  as  stiff  an  arm  to  back  a  poor  stranger  in 
a  strait,  as  to  plunder  a  wealthy  one.  In  sum,  gentlemen,  what 
the  wildness  of  this  canal  life  is,  is  emphatically  evinced  by  this ; 
that  our  wild  whale-fishery  contains  so  many  of  its  most  finished 
graduates,  and  that  scarce  any  race  of  mankind,  except  Sydney 
men,  are  so  much  distrusted  by  our  whaling  captains.  Nor 
does  it  at  all  diminish  the  curiousness  of  this  matter,  that  to 
many  thousands  of  our  rural  boys  and  young  meii  born  along 
its  line,  the  probationary  life  of  the  Grand  Canal  furnishes  the 


280  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

sole  transition  between  quietly  reaping  in  a  Christian  corn-field, 
and  recklessly  ploughing  the  waters  of  the  most  barbaric  seas." 

" '  I  see !  I  see !'  impetuously  exclaimed  Don  Pedro,  spilling 
his  chicha  upon  his  silvery  ruffles.  '  No  need  to  travel !  The 
world's  one  Lima.  I  had  thought,  now,  that  at  your  temperate 
North  the  generations  were  cold  and  holy  as  the  hills. — But  the 
story.' 

"  I  left  off,  gentlemen,  where  the  Lakeman  shook  the  back- 
stay. Hardly  had  he  done  so,  when  he  was  surrounded  by  the 
three  junior  mates  and  the  four  harpooneers,  who  all  crowded 
him  to  the  deck.  But  sliding  down  the  ropes  like  baleful  comets, 
the  two  Canallers  rushed  into  the  uproar,  and  sought  to  drag 
their  man  out  of  it  towards  the  forecastle.  Others  of  the  sailors 
joined  with  them  in  this  attempt,  and  a  twisted  turmoil  ensued ; 
while  standing  out  of  harm's  way,  the  valiant  captain  danced 
up  and  down  with  a  whale-pike,  calling  upon  his  officers  to 
manhandle  that  atrocious  scoundrel,  and  smoke  him  along  to 
the  quarter-deck.  At  intervals,  he  ran  close  up  to  the  revolving 
border  of  the  confusion,  and  prying  into  the  heart  of  it  with  his 
pike,  sought  to  prick  out  the  object  of  his  resentment.  But 
Steelkilt  and  his  desperadoes  were  too  much  for  them  all ;  they 
succeeded  in  gaining  the  forecastle  deck,  where,  hastily  slewing 
about  three  or  four  large  casks  in  a  line  with  the  windlass, 
these  sea-Parisians  entrenched  themselves  behind  the  barricade." 

" '  Come  out  of  that,  ye  pirates !'  roared  the  captain,  now 
menacing  them  with  a  pistol  in  each  hand,  just  brought  to  him 
by  the  steward.     '  Come  out  of  that,  ye  cut-throats  !' 

"  Steelkilt  leaped  on  the  barricade,  and  striding  up  and  down 
there,  defied  the  worst  the  pistols  could  do ;  but  gave  the  cap- 
tain to  understand  distinctly,  that  his  (Steelkilt's)  death  would 
be  the  signal  for  a  murderous  mutiny  on  the  part  of  all  hands. 
Fearing  in  his  heart  lest  this  might  prove  but  too  true,  the  cap- 
tain a  little  desisted,  but  still  commanded  the  insurgents  instantly 
to  return  to  their  duty. 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  281 

"'Will  you  promise  not  to  touch  us,  if  we  do  V  demanded 
their  ringleader. 

" '  Turn  to !  turn  to ! — I  make  no  promise  ;— to  your  duty ! 
Do  you  want  to  sink  the  ship,  by  knocking  off  at  a  time  like 
this  ?     Turn  to  !'  and  he  once  more  raised  a  pistol. 

"'Sink  the  ship?'  cried  Steelkilt.  'Aye,  let  her  sink.  Not 
a  man  of  us  turns  to,  unless  you  swear  not  to  raise  a  rope-yarn 
against  us.  "What  say  ye,  men  ?"  turning  to  his  comrades.  A 
fierce  cheer  was  their  response. 

"  The  Lakeman  now  patrolled  the  barricade,  all  the  while 
keeping  his  eye  on  the  Captain,  and  jerking  out  such  sentences 
as  these : — '  It's  not  our  fault ;  .we  didn't  want  it ;  I  told  him 
to  take  his  hammer  away ;  it  was  boy's  business ;  he  might 
have  known  me  before  this ;  I  told  him  not  to  prick  the  buffalo ; 
I  believe  I  have  broken  a  finger  here  against  his  cursed  jaw ; 
ain't  those  mincing  knives  down  in  the  forecastle  there,  men  ? 
look  to  those  handspikes,  my  hearties.  Captain,  by  God,  look 
to  yourself ;  say  the  word;  don't  be  a  fool;  forget  it  all ;  we 
are  ready  to  turn  to  ;  treat  us  decently,  and  we're  your  men ; 
but  we  won't  be  flogged.' 
. "  '  Turn  to  !  I  make  no  promises,  turn  to,  I  say !' 

" '  Look  ye,  now,'  cried  the  Lakeman,  flinging  out  his  arm 
towards  him,  '  there  are  a  few  of  us  here  (and  I  am  one  of 
them)  who  have  shipped  for  the  cruise,  d'ye  see  ;  now  as  you 
well  know,  sir,  we  can  claim  our  discharge  as  soon  as  the  anchor 
is  down ;  so  we  don't  want  a  row ;  it's  not  our  interest ;  we 
want  to  be  peaceable ;  we  are  ready  to  work,  but  we  won't  be 
flogged.' 

"  '  Turn  to  f  roared  the  Captain. 

"  Steelkilt  glanced  round  him  a  moment,  and  then  said : — '  I 
tell  you  what  it  is  now,  Captain,  rather  than  kill  ye,  and  be 
bung  for  such  a  shabby  rascal,  we  won't  lift  a  hand  against  ye 
unless  ye  attack  us  ;  but  till  you  say  the  word  about  not  flog- 
ging us,  we  don't  do  a  hand's  turn.' 


282  THE    TOWN-HO'S  STORY. 

" '  Down  into  the  forecastle  then,  down  with  ye,  I'll  keep  ye 
there  till  ye're  sick  of  it.     Down  ye  go.' 

" '  Shall  we  V  cried  the  ringleader  to  his  men.  Most  of  them 
were  against  it ;  but  at  length,  in  obedience  to  Steelkilt,  they 
preceded  him  down  into  their  dark  den,  growlingly  disappear- 
ing, like  bears  into  a  cave. 

"  As  the  Lakeman's  bare  head  was  just  level  with  the  planks, 
the  Captain  and  his  posse  leaped  the  barricade,  and  rapidly 
drawing  over  the  slide  of  the  scuttle,  planted  their  group  of  hands 
upon  it,  and  loudly  called  for  the  steward  to  bring  the  heavy 
brass  padlock  belonging  to  the  companion-way.  Then  opening 
the  slide  a  little,  the  Captain  whispered  something  down  the 
crack,  closed  it,  and  turned  the  key  upon  them — ten  in  num- 
ber— leaving  on  deck  some  twenty  or  more,  who  thus  far  had 
remained  neutral. 

"  All  night  a  wide-awake  watch  was  kept  by  all  the  officers,  for- 
ward and  aft,  especially  about  the  forecastle  scuttle  and  fore  hatch- 
way ;  at  which  last  place  it  was  feared  the  insurgents  might 
emerge,  after  breaking  through  the  bulkhead  below.  But  the 
hours  of  darkness  passed  in  peace ;  the  men  who  still  remained 
at  their  duty  toiling  hard  at  the  pumps,  whose  clinking  and 
clanking  at  intervals  through  the  dreary  night  dismally  resounded 
through  the  ship. 

"  At  sunrise  the  Captain  went  forward,  and  knocking  on  the 
deck,  summoned  the  prisoners  to  work ;  but  with  a  yell  they  re- 
fused. "Water  was  then  lowered  down  to  them,  and  a  couple 
of  handfuls  of  biscuit  were  tossed  after  it ;  when  again  turning 
the  key  upon  them  and  pocketing  it,  the  Captain  returned  to  the 
quarter-deck.  Twice  every  day  for  three  days  this  was  repeated ; 
but  on  the  fourth  morning  a  confused  wrangling,  and  then  a 
scuffling  was  heard,  as  the  customary  summons  was  delivered ; 
and  suddenly  four  men  burst  up  from  the  forecastle,  saying  they 
were  ready  to  turn  to.  The  fetid  closeness  of  the  air,  and  a 
famishing  diet,  united  perhaps  to  some  fears  of  ultimate  retribu- 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  283 

tion,  had  constrained  them  to  surrender  at  discretion.  Embold- 
ened by  this,  the  Captain  reiterated  his  demand  to  the  rest,  but 
Steelkilt  shouted  up  to  him  a  terrific  hint  to  stop  his  babbling 
and  betake  himself  where  he  belonged.  On  the  fifth  morning 
three  others  of  the  mutineers  bolted  up  into  the  ah'  from  the 
desperate  arms  below  that  sought  to  restrain  them.  Only  three 
were  left. 

" '  Better  turn  to,  now  ?'  said  the  Captain  with  a  heartless 
jeer. 

" '  Shut  us  up  again,  will  ye !'  cried  Steelkilt. 

"  '  Oh  !  certainly,'  -said  the  Captain,  and  the  key  clicked. 

"  It  was  at  this  point,  gentlemen,  that  enraged  by  the  defection 
of  seven  of  his  former  associates,  and  stung  by  the  mocking 
voice  that  had  last  hailed  him,  and  maddened  by  his  long 
entombment  in  a  place  as  black  as  the  bowels  of  despair ;  it 
was  then  that  Steelkilt  proposed  to  the  two  Canallers,  thus  far 
apparently  of  one  mind  with  him,  to  burst  out  of  their  hole  at 
the  next  summoning  of  the  garrison ;  and  armed  with  their 
keen  mincing  knives  (long,  crescentic,  heavy  implements  with 
a  handle  at  each  end)  run  a  muck  from  the  bowsprit  to  the 
taffrail ;  and  if  by  any  devilishness  of  desperation  possible,  seize 
the  ship.  For  himself,  he  would  do  this,  he  said,  whether  they 
joined  him  or  not.  That  was  the  last  night  he  should  spend  in 
that  den.  But  the  scheme  met  with  no  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  other  two  ;  they  swore  they  were  ready  for  that,  or  for  any 
other  mad  thing,  for  anything  in  short  but  a  surrender.  And 
what  was  more,  they  each  insisted  upon  being  the  first  man  on 
deck,  when  the  time  to  make  the  rush  should  come.  But  to 
this  their  leader  as  fiercely  objected,  reserving  that  priority  for 
himself ;  particularly  as  his  two  comrades  would  not  yield,  the 
one  to  the  othei1,  in  the  matter ;  and  both  of  them  could  not  be 
first,  for  the  ladder  would  but  admit  one  man  at  a  time.  And 
here,  gentlemen,  the  foul  play  of  these  miscreants  must  come 
out 


284  THE    TOWN-HO*S    STORY. 

"  Upon  hearing  the  frantic  project  of  their  leader,  each  in  his 
own  separate  soul  had  suddenly  lighted,  it  would  seem,  upon 
the  same  piece  of  treachery,  namely :  to  be  foremost  in  break- 
ing out,  in  order  to  be  the  first  of  the  three,  though  the  last  of 
the  ten,  to  surrender  ;  and  thereby  secure  whatever  small  chance 
of  pardon  such  conduct  might  merit.  But  when  Steelkilt  made 
known  his  determination  still  to  lead  them  to  the  last,  they  in 
some  way,  by  some  subtle  chemistry  of  villany,  mixed  their  be- 
fore secret  treacheries  together ;  and  when  their  leader  fell  into 
a  doze,  verbally  opened  their  souls  to  each  other  in  three 
sentences ;  and  bound  the  sleeper  with  cords,  and  gagged 
him  with  cords ;  and  shrieked  out  for  the  Captain  at  mid- 
night. 

"  Thinking  murder  at  hand,  and  smelling  in  the  dark  for  the 
blood,  he  and  all  his  armed  mates  and  harpooneers  rushed  for 
the  forecastle.  In  a  few  minutes  the  scuttle  was  opened,  and, 
bound  hand  and  foot,  the  still  struggling  ringleader  was  shoved 
up  into  the  air  by  his  perfidious  allies,  who  at  once  claimed  the 
honor  of  securing  a  man  who  had  been  fully  ripe  for  murder. 
But  all  these  were  collared,  and  dragged  along  the  deck  like 
dead  cattle ;  and,  side  by  side,  were  seized  up  into  the  mizen 
rigging,  like  three  quarters  of  meat,  and  there  they  hung  till 
morning.  '  Damn  ye,'  cried  the  Captain,  pacing  to  and  fro 
before  them,  '  the  vultures  would  not  touch  ye,  ye  villains  !' 

"At  sunrise  he  summoned  all  hands  ;  and  separating  those 
who  had  rebelled  from  those  who  had  taken  no  part  in  the 
mutiny,  he  told  the  former  that  he  had  a  good  mind  to  flog 
them  all  round — thought,  upon  the  whole,  he  would  do  so — 
he  ought  to — justice  demanded  it ;  but  for  the  present,  con- 
sidering their  timely  surrender,  he  would  let  them  go  with  a 
reprimand,  which  he  accordingly  administered  in  the  vernacu- 
lar. 

"  '  But  as  for  you,  ye  carrion  rogues,'  turning  to  the  three 
men  in  the  rigging — '  for  you,  I  mean  to  mince  ye  up  for  the 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  285 

try-pots  ;'  and,  seizing  a  rope,  he  applied  it  with  all  his  might 
to  the  backs  of  the  two  traitors,  till  they  yelled  no  more,  but 
lifelessly  hung  their  heads  sideways,  as  the  two  crucified  thieves 
are  drawn. 

"  '  My  wrist  is  sprained  with  ye  !'  he  cried,  at  last ;  '  but 
there  is  still  rope  enough  left  for  you,  my  fine  bantam,  that 
wouldn't  give  up.  Take  that  gag  from  his  mouth,  and  let  us 
hear  what  he  can  say  for  himself.' 

"  For  a  moment  the  exhausted  mutineer  made  a  tremulous 
motion  of  his  cramped  jaws,  and  then  painfully  twisting  round 
his  head,  said  in  a  sort  of  hiss,  '  What  I  say  is  this — and  mind 
it  well — if  you  flog  me,  I  murder  you  !' 

" '  Say  ye  so  ?  then  see  how  ye  frighten  me ' — and  the  Cap- 
tain drew  off  with  the  rope  to  strike. 

"  '  Best  not,'  hissed  the  Lakeman. 

"  '  But  I  must,' — and  the  rope  was  once  more  drawn  back  for 
the  stroke. 

"  Steelkilt  here  hissed  out  something,  inaudible  to  all  but  the 
Captain ;  who,  to  the  amazement  of  all  hands,  started  back, 
paced  the  deck  rapidly  two  or  three  times,  and  then  suddenly 
throwing  down  his  rope,  said,  1 1  won't  do  it — let  him  go — cut 
him  down  :  d'ye  hear  ?' 

But  as  the  junior  mates  were  hurrying  to  execute  the  order, 
a  pale  man,  with  a  bandaged  head,  arrested  them — Radney  the 
chief  mate.  Ever  since  the  blow,  he  had  lain  in  his  berth  ;  but 
that  morning,  hearing  the  tumult  on .  the  deck,  he  had  crept 
out,  and  thus  far  had  watched  the  whole  scene.  Such  was  the 
state  of  his  mouth,  that  he  could  hardly  speak  ;  but  mumbling 
something  about  his  being  willing  and  able,  to  do  what  the 
captain  dared  not  attempt,  he  snatched  the  rope  and  advanced 
to  his  pinioned  foe. 

" '  You  are  a  coward !'  hissed  the  Lakeman. 

"  '  So  I  am,  but  take  that.'  The  mate  was  in  the  very  act  of 
striking,  when  another  hiss  stayed  his  uplifted  arm.  He  paused : 


286  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

and  then  pausing  no  more,  made  good  his  word,  spite  of  Steel- 
kilt's  threat,  -whatever  that  might  have  been.  The  three  men 
were  then  cut  down,  all  hands  were  turned  to,  and,  sullenly- 
worked  by  the  moody  seamen,  the  iron  pumps  clanged  as  before. 

"  Just  after  dark  that  day,  when  one  watch  had  retired  below, 
a  clamor  was  heard  in  the  forecastle  ;  and  the  two  trembling 
traitors  running  up,  besieged  the  cabin  door,  saying  they  durst 
not  consort  with  the  crew.  Entreaties,  cuffs,  and  kicks  could 
not  drive  them  back,  so  at  their  own  instance  they  were  put 
down  in  the  ship's  run  for  salvation.  Still,  no  sign  of  mutiny 
reappeared  among  the  rest.  On  the  contrary,  it  seemed,  that 
mainly  at  Steelkilt's  instigation,  they  had  resolved  to  maintain 
the  strictest  peacefulness,  obey  all  orders  to  the  last,  and,  when 
the  ship  reached  port,  desert  her  in  a  body.  But  in  order  to 
insure  the  speediest  end  to  the  voyage,  they  all  agreed  to  ano- 
ther thing — namely,  not  to  sing  out  for  whales,  in  case  any 
should  be  discovered.  For,  spite  of  her  leak,  and  spite  of  all 
her  other  perils,  the  Town-Ho  still  maintained  her  mast-heads, 
and  her  captain  was  just  as  willing  to  lower  for  a  fish  that 
moment,  as  on  the  day  his  craft  first  struck  the  cruising  ground  ; 
and  Radney  the  mate  was  quite  as  ready  to  change  his  berth 
for  a  boat,  and  with  his  bandaged  mouth  seek  to  gag  in  death 
the  vital  jaw  of  the  whale. 

"  But  though  the  Lakeman  had  induced  the  seamen  to  adopt 
this  sort  of  passiveness  in  their  conduct,  he  kept  his  own  coun- 
sel (at  least  till  all  was  over)  concerning  his  own  proper  and 
piivate  revenge  upon  the  man  who  had  stung  him  in  the  ven- 
tricles of  his  heart.  He  was  in  Radney  the  chief  mate's  watch ; 
and  as  if  the  infatuated  man  sought  to  run  more  than  half  way 
to  meet  his  doom,  after  the  scene  at  the  rigging,  he  insisted, 
against  the  express  counsel  of  the  captain,  upon  resuming  the 
head  of  his  watch  at  night.  Upon  this,  and  one  or  two  other 
circumstances,  Steelkilt  systematically  built  the  r>lan  of  his 
revenge. 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  287 

"During  the  night,  Raclney  had  an  unseamanlike  way  of  sitting 
on  the  bulwarks  of  the  quarter-deck,  and  leaning  his  arm  upon 
the  gunwale  of  the  boat  which  was  hoisted  up  there,  a  little 
above  the  ship's  side.  In  this  attitude,  it  was  well  known,  he 
sometimes  dozed.  There  was  a  considerable  vacancy  between 
the  boat  and  the  ship,  and  down  between  this  was  the  sea. 
Steelkilt  calculated  his  time,  and  found  that  his  next  trick  at  the 
helm  would  come  round  at  two  o'clock,  in  the  morning  of  the 
third  day  from  that  in  which  he  had  been  betrayed.  At  his 
leisure,  he  employed  the  interval  in  braiding  something  veiy 
carefully  in  his  watches  below. 

"  '  What  are  you  making  there  V  said  a  shipmate. 

"  '  What  do  you  think  ?  what  does  it  look  like  ?' 

"  '  Like  a  lanyard  for  your  bag  ;  but  it's  an  odd  one,  seems  to 
me.' 

" '  Yes,  rather  oddish,'  said  the  Lakeman,  holding  it  at  arm's 
length  before  him  ;  "  but  I  think  it  will  answer.  Shipmate,  I 
haven't  enough  twine, — have  you  any  V 

"  But  there  was  none  in  the  forecastle. 

"  'Then  I  must  get  some  from  old  Rad  ;'  and  he  rose  to  go  aft. 

"  '  You  don't  mean  to  go  a  begging  to  him  /'  said  a  sailor. 

"  'Why  not  ?  Do  you  think  he  won't  do  me  a  turn,  when  it's 
to  help  himself  in  the  end,  shipmate  ?'  and  going  to  the  mate, 
he  looked  at  him  quietly,  and  asked  him  for  some  twine  to 
mend  his  hammock.  It  was  given  him — neither  twine  nor  lan- 
yard were  seen  again  ;  but  the  next  night  an  iron  ball,  closely 
netted,  partly  rolled  from  the  pocket  of  the  Lakeman's  monkey 
jacket,  as  he  was  tucking  the  coat  into  his  hammock  for  a  pil- 
low. Twenty-four  hours  after,  his  trick  at  the  silent  helm — 
nigh  to  the  man  who  was  apt  to  doze  over  the  grave  always 
ready  dug  to  the  seaman's  hand — that  fatal  hour  was  then  to 
come  ;  and  in  the  fore-ordaining  soul  of  Steelkilt,  the  mate  was 
already  stark  and  stretched  as  a  corpse,  with  his  forehead  crushed 


288  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 

"But,  gentlemen,  a  fool  saved  the  would-be  murderer  from  the 
bloody  deed  he  had  planned.  Yet  complete  revenge  he  had, 
and  without  being  the  avenger.  For  by  a  mysterious  fatality, 
Heaven  itself  seemed  to  step  in  to  take  out  of  his  hands  into  its 
own  the  damning  thing  he  would  have  done. 

"  It  was  just  between  daybreak  and  sunrise  of  the  morning  of 
the  second  day,  when  they  were  washing  down  the  decks,  that 
a  stupid  Teneriffe  man,  drawing  water  in  the  main-chains,  all  at 
once  shouted  out,  '  There  she  rolls  !  there  she  rolls  !'  Jesu, 
what  a  whale  !  It  was  Moby  Dick. 

"  '  Moby  Dick  !?  cried  Don  Sebastian ;  '  St.  Dominic !  Sir 
sailor,  but  do  whales  have  christenings  ?  Whom  call  you  Moby 
Dick?' 

" '  A  very  white,  and  famous,  and  most  deadly  immortal 
monster,  Don ; — but  that  would  be  too  long  a  story.' 

" '  How  ?  how  ? '  cried  all  the  young  Spaniards,  crowding. 

" '  Nay,  Dons,  Dons — nay,  nay !  I  cannot  rehearse  that  now, 
Let  me  get  more  into  the  ah',  Sirs.' 

" '  The  chicha  !  the  chicha !'  cried  Don  Pedro  ;  '  our  vigorous 
friend  looks  faint ; — fill  up  up  his  empty  glass  !' 

"  No  need,  gentlemen  ;  one  moment,  and  I  proceed. — Now. 
gentlemen,  so  suddenly  perceiving  the  snowy  whale  within  fifty 
yards  of  the  ship — forgetful  of  the  compact  among  the  crew — 
in  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  the  Teneriffe  man  had  in- 
stinctively and  involuntarily  lifted  his  voice  for  the  monster 
though  for  some  little  time  past  it  had  been  plainly  beheld 
from  the  three  sullen  mast-heads.  All  was  now  a  phrensy.  •  The 
White  Whale — the  White  Whale  ! '  was  the  cry  from  captain, 
mates,  and  harpooneers,  who,  undeterred  by  fearful  rumors,  were 
all  anxious  to  capture  so  famous  and  precious  a  fish ;  while  the 
dogged  crew  eyed  askance,  and  with  curses,  the  appalling 
beauty  of  the  vast  milky  mass,  that  lit  up  by  a  horizontal 
spangling  sun,  shifted  and  glistened  like  a  living  opal  in  the 
blue  morning  sea.     Gentlemen,  a  strange  fatality  pervades  the 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  289 

whole  career  of  these  events,  as  if  verily  mapped  out  before  the 
world  itself  was  charted.  The  mutineer  was  the  bowsman  of 
the  mate,  and  when  fast  to  a  fish,  it  was  his  duty  to  sit  next 
him,  while  Radney  stood  up  with  his  lance  in  the  prow,  and 
haul  in  or  slacken  the  line,  at  the  word  of  command.  More- 
over, when  the  four  boats  were  lowered,  the  mate's  got  the  start ; 
and  none  howled  more  fiercely  with  delight  than  did  Steelkilt, 
as  he  strained  at  his  oar.  After  a  stiff  pull,  their  harpooneer 
got  fast,  and,  spear  in  hand,  Radney  sprang  to  the  bow.  He 
was  always  a  furious  man,  it  seems,  in  a  boat.  And  now  his 
bandaged  cry  was,  to  beach  him  on  the  whale's  topmost  back. 
Nothing  loath,  his  bowsman  hauled  him  up  and  up,  through  a 
blinding  foam  that  blent  two  whitenesses  together;  till  of  a 
sudden  the  boat  struck  as  against  a  sunken  ledge,  and  keeling 
over,  spilled  out  the  standing  mate.  That  instant,  as  he  fell  on 
the  whale's  slippery  back,  the  boat  righted,  and  was  dashed 
aside  by  the  swell,  while  Radney  was  tossed  over  into  the  sea, 
on  the  other  flank  of  the  whale.  He  struck  out  through  the 
spray,  and,  for  an  instant,  was  dimly  seen  through  that  veil, 
wildly  seeking  to  remove  himself  from  the  eye  of  Moby  Dick. 
But  the  whale  rushed  round  in  a  sudden  maelstrom ;  seized 
the  swimmer  between  his  jaws ;  and  rearing  high  up  with  him, 
plunged  headlong  again,  and  went  down. 

"  Meantime,  at  the  first  tap  of  the  boat's  bottom,  the  Lake- 
man  had  slackened  the  line,  so  as  to  drop  astern  from  the  whirl- 
pool ;  calmly  looking  on,  he  thought  his  own  thoughts.  But 
a  sudden,  terrific,  downward  jerking  of  the  boat,  quickly 
brought  his  knife  to  the  line.  He  cut  it ;  and  the  whale  was 
free.  But,  at  some  distance,  Moby  Dick  rose  again,  with  some 
tatters  of  Radney's  red  woollen  shirt,  caught  in  the  teeth  that 
had  destroyed  him.  All  four  boats  gave  chase  again  ;  but  the 
whale  eluded  them,  and  finally  wholly  disappeared. 

"  In  good  time,  the  Town -Ho  reached  her  port — a  savage, 
solitary   place — where   no  civilized    creature  resided.     There, 

13 


290         '  THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY. 


headed  by  the  Lakeman,  all  but  five  or  six  of  the  foremast-men 
deliberately  deserted  among  the  palms  ;  eventually,  as  it  turned 
out,  seizing  a  large  double  war-canoe  of  the  savages,  and  setting 
sail  for  some  other  harbor. 

"  The  ship's  company  being  reduced  to  but  a  handful,  the 
captain  called  upon  the  Islanders  to  assist  him  in  the  laborious 
business  of  heaving  down  the  ship  to  stop  the  leak.  But  to 
such  unresting  vigilance  over  their  dangerous  allies  was  this 
small  band  of  whites  necessitated,  both  by  night  and  by  day, 
and  so  extreme  was  the  hard  work  they  underwent,  that  upon 
the  vessel  being  ready  again  for  sea,  they  were  in  such  a  weak- 
ened condition  that  the  captain  durst  not  put  off  with  them  in 
so  heavy  a  vessel.  After  taking  counsel  with  his  officers,  he 
anchored  the  ship  as  far  off  shore  as  possible  ;  loaded  and  ran 
out  his  two  cannon  from  the  bows  ;  stacked  his  muskets  on  the 
poop  ;  and  warning  the  Islanders  not  to  approach  the  ship  at 
their  peril,  took  one  man  with  him,  and  setting  the  sail  of  his 
best  whaleboat,  steered  straight  before  the  wind  for  Tahiti,  five 
hundred  miles  distant,  to  procure  a  reinforcement  to  his  crew. 

"  On  the  fourth  day  of  the  sail,  a  large  canoe  was  descried, 
which  seemed  to  have  touched  at  a  low  isle  of  corals.  He 
steered  away  from  it ;  but  the  savage  craft  bore  down  on  him  ; 
and  soon  the  voice  of  Steelkilt  hailed  him  to  heave  to,  or  he 
would  run  him  under  water.  The  captain  presented  a  pistol. 
"With  one  foot  on  each  prow  of  the  yoked  war-canoes,  the 
Lakeman  laughed  him  to  scorn  ;  assuring  him  that  if  the  pistol 
so  much  as  clicked  in  the  lock,  he  would  bury  him  in  bubbles 
and  foam. 

"  'What  do  you  want  of  me  ? '  cried  the  captain. 

" '  Where  are  you  bound  ?  and  for  what  are  you  bound  V 
demanded  Steelkilt ;  '  no  lies.' 

" '  I  am  bound  to  Tahiti  for  more  men.' 

" '  Very  good.  Let  me  board  you  a  moment — I  come  in 
peace.'     With   that  he  leaped  from  the  canoe,  swam  to  the 


THE    TOWN-HO'S    STORY.  291 

boat ;  and  climbing  the  gunwale,  stood  face  to  face  with  the 
captain. 

" '  Cross  your  arms,  sir ;  throw  back  your  head.  Now,  repeat 
after  me.  As  soon  as  Steelkilt  leaves  me,  I  swear  to  beach  this 
boat  on  yonder  island,  and  remain  there  six  days.  If  I  do  not, 
may  lightnings  strike  me  !' 

"  '  A  pretty  scholar,'  laughed  the  Lakeman.  '  Adios,  Sen  or !' 
and  leaping  into  the  sea,  he  swam  back  to  his  comrades. 

"Watching  the  boat  till  it  was  fairly  beached,  and  drawn  up 
to  the  roots  of  the  cocoa-nut  trees,  Steelkilt  made  sail  again, 
and  in  due  time  arrived  at  Tahiti,  his  own  place  of  destination. 
There,  luck  befriended  him ;  two  ships  were  about  to  sail  for 
France,  and  were  providentially  in  want  of  precisely  that  num- 
ber of  men  which  the  sailor  headed.  They  embarked  ;  and  so 
for  ever  got  the  start  of  their  former  captain,  had  he  been  at  all 
minded  to  work  them  legal  retribution. 

"  Some  ten  days  after  the  French  ships  sailed,  the  whale-boat 
arrived,  and  the  captain  was  forced  to  enlist  some  of  the  more 
civilized  Tahitians,  who  had  been  somewhat  used  to  the  sea. 
Chartering  a  small  native  schooner,  he  returned  with  them  to 
his  vessel ;  and  finding  all  right  there,  again  resumed  his 
cruisings. 

"  Where  Steelkilt  now  is,  gentlemen,  none  know ;  but  upon 
the  island  of  Nantucket,  the  widow  of  Radney  still  turns  to  the 
sea  which  refuses  to  give  up  its  dead  ;  still  in  dreams  sees  the 
awful  white  whale  that  destroyed  him.        *         *         *         * 

"  '  Are  you  through  ?'  said  Don  Sebastian,  quietly. 

"  '  I  am,  Don.' 

"  '  Then  I  entreat  you,  tell  me  if  to  the  best  of  your  own  con- 
victions, this  your  story  is  in  substance  really  true  ?  It  is  so 
passing  wonderful !  Did  you  get  it  from  an  unquestionable 
source  ?     Bear  with  me  if  I  seem  to  press.' 

' "  Also  bear  with  all  of  us,  sir  sailor  ;  for  we  all  join  in  Don 
Sebastian's  suit,'  cried  the  company,  with  exceeding  interest. 


292    MONSTROUS    PICTURES    OF    WHALES. 

'  "  Is  there  a  copy  of  the  Holy  Evangelists  in  the  Golden  Inn, 
gentlemen?' 

" '  Nay,'  said  Don  Sebastian  ;  '  but  I  know  a  worthy  priest 
near  by,  who  will  quickly  procure  one  for  me.  I  go  for  it ;  but 
are  you  well  advised  ?  this  may  grow  too  serious.' 

" '  Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  bring  the  priest  also,  Don  ?' 

"  '  Though  there  are  no  Auto-da-Fes  in  Lima  now,'  said  one 
of  the  company  to  another ;  '  I  fear  our  sailor  friend  runs  risk 
of  the  archiepiscopacy.  Let  us  withdraw  more  out  of  the  moon- 
light.    I  see  no  need  of  this.' 

"  '  Excuse  me  for  running  after  you,  Don  Sebastian ;  but  may 
I  also  beg  that  you  will  be  particular  in  procuring  the  largest 
sized  Evangelists  you  can.' 

*  *  *  *  *  * 

" '  This  is  the  priest,  he  brings  you  the  Evangelists,'  said 
Don  Sebastian,  gravely,  returning  with  a  tall  and  solemn  figure. 

" '  Let  me  remove  my  hat.  Now,  venerable  priest,  further  into 
the  light,  and  hold  the  Holy  Book  before  me  that  I  may  touch 
it.' 

" '  So  help  me  Heaven,  and  on  my  honor  the  story  I  have  told 
ye,  gentlemen,  is  in  substance  and  its  great  items,  true.  I  know 
it  to  be  true ;  it  happened  on  this  ball ;  I  trod  the  ship ;  I  knew 
the  crew  ;  I  have  seen  and  talked  with  Steelkilt  since  the  death 
of  Radney.'  " 


CHAPTER  LV. 

OF   THE    MONSTROUS    PICTURES    OF   WHALES. 

I  shall  ere  long  paint  to  you  as  well  as  one  can  without  can- 
vas, something  like  the  true  form  of  the  whale  as  he  actually  ap- 
pears to  the  eye  of  the  whaleman  when  in  his  own  absolute  body 
the  whale  is  moored  alongside  the  whale-ship  so  that  he  can  be 


MONSTROUS    PICTURES    OF    WHALES.   293 

fairly  stepped  upon  there.  It  may  be  worth  while,  therefore, 
previously  to  advert  to  those  curious  imaginary  portraits  of  him 
which  even  down  to  the  present  day  confidently  challenge  the 
faith  of  the  landsman.  It  is  time  to  set  the  world  right  in  this 
matter,  by  proving  such  pictures  of  the  whale  all  wrong. 

It  may  be  that  the  primal  source  of  all  those  pictorial  delu- 
sions will  be  found  among  the  oldest  Hindoo,  Egyptian,  and 
Grecian  sculptures.  For  ever  since  those  inventive  but  unscru- 
pulous times  when  on  the  marble  panellings  of  temples,  the  pe- 
destals of  statues,  and  on  shields,  medallions,  cups,  and  coins, 
the  dolphin  was  drawn  in  scales  of  chain-armor  like  Saladin's, 
and  a  helmeted  head  like  St.  George's ;  ever  since  then  has 
something  of  the  same  sort  of  license  prevailed,  not  only  in 
most  popular  pictures  of  the  whale,  but  in  many  scientific  pre- 
sentations of  him. 

Now,  by  all  odds,  the  most  ancient  extant  portrait  anyways 
purporting  to  be  the  whale's,  is  to  be  found  in  the  famous  ca- 
vern-pagoda of  Elephanta,  in  India.  The  Brahmins  maintain 
that  in  the  almost  endless  sculptures  of  that  immemorial  pago- 
da, all  the  trades  and  pursuits,  every  conceivable  avocation  of 
man,  were  prefigured  ages  before  any  of  them  actually  came 
into  being.  No  wonder  then,  that  in  some  sort  our  noble  pro- 
fession of  whaling  should  have  been  there  shadowed  forth.  The 
Hindoo  whale  referred  to,  occurs  in  a  separate  department  of 
the  wall,  depicting  the  incarnation  of  Vishnu  in  the  form  of 
leviathan,  learnedly  known  as  the  Matse  Avatar.  But  though 
this  sculpture  is  half  man  and  half  whale,  so  as  only  to  give  the 
tail  of  the  latter,  yet  that  small  section  of  him  is  all  wrong. 
It  looks  more  like  the  tapering  tail  of  an  anaconda,  than  the 
broad  palms  of  the  true  whale's  majestic  flukes. 

But  go  to  the  old  Galleries,  and  look  now  at  a  great  Christian 
painter's  portrait  of  this  fish ;  for  he  succeeds  no  better  than  the 
antediluvian  Hindoo.  It  is  Guido's  picture  of  Perseus  rescuing 
Andromeda  from  the  sea-monster  or  whale.     Where  did  Guido 


294  MONSTROUS    PICTURES    OF    WHALES. 

get  the  model  of  such  a  strange  creature  as  that  ?  Nor  does 
Hogarth,  in  painting  the  same  scene  in  his  own  "  Perseus  De- 
scending," make  out  one  whit  better.  The  huge  corpulence  of 
that  Hogarthian  monster  undulates  on  the  surface,  scarcely 
drawing  one  inch  of  water.  It  has  a  sort  of  howdah  on  its 
back,  and  its  distended  tusked  mouth  into  which  the  billows 
are  rolling,  might  be  taken  for  the  Traitors'  Gate  leading  from 
the  Thames  by  water  into  the  Tower.  Then,  there  are  the 
Prodromus  whales  of  old  Scotch  Sibbald,  and  Jonah's  whale, 
as  depicted  in  the  prints  of  old  Bibles  and  the  cuts  of  old  pri- 
mers. What  shall  be  said  of  these  ?  As  for  the  book-binder's 
whale  winding  like  a  vine-stalk  round  the  stock  of  a  descend- 
ing anchor — as  stamped  and  gilded  on  the  backs  and  title-pages 
of  many  books  both  old  and  new — that  is  a  very  picturesque 
but  purely  fabulous  creature,  imitated,  I  take  it,  from  the  like 
figures  on  antique  vases.  Though  universally  denominated  a 
dolphin,  I  nevertheless  call  this  book-binder's  fish  an  at- 
tempt at  a  whale  ;  because  it  was  so  intended  when  the  device 
was  first  introduced.  It  was  introduced  by  an  old  Italian  pub- 
lisher somewhere  about  the  15  th  century,  during  the  Revival  of 
Learning ;  and  in  those  days,  and  even  down  to  a  comparatively 
late  period,  dolphins  were  popularly  supposed  to  be  a  species  of 
the  Leviathan. 

In  the  vignettes  and  other  embellishments  of  some  ancient 
books  you  will  at  times  meet  with  very  curious  touches  at  the 
whale,  where  all  manner  of  spouts,  jets  d'eau,  hot  springs  and 
cold,  Saratoga  and  Baden-Baden,  come  bubbling  up  from  his 
unexhausted  brain.  In  the  title-page  of  the  original  edition  of 
the  "  Advancement  of  Learning"  you  will  find  some  curious 
whales. 

But  quitting  all  these  unprofessional  attempts,  let  us  glance 
at  those  pictures  of  leviathan  purporting  to  be  sober,  scientific 
delineations,  by  those  who  know.  In  old  Harris's  collection  of 
voyages  there  are  some  plates  of  whales  extracted  from  a  Dutch 


MONSTROUS    PICTURES    OF    WHALES.  295 

book  of  voyages,  A.  D.  1671,  entitled  "A  Whaling  Voyage  to 
Spitzbergen  in  the  ship  Jonas  in  the  Whale,  Peter  Peterson  of 
Friesland,  master."  In  one  of  those  plates  the  whales,  like 
great  rafts  of  logs,  are  represented  lying  among  ice-isles,  with 
white  bears  running  over  their  living  backs.  In  another  plate, 
the  prodigious  blunder  is  made  of  representing  the  whale  with 
perpendicular  flukes. 

Then  again,  there  is  an  imposing  quarto,  written  by  one  Cap- 
tain Colnett,  a  Post  Captain  in  the  English  navy,  entitled  "  A 
Voyage  round  Cape  Horn  into  the  South  Seas,  for  the  purpose 
of  extending  the  Spermaceti  Whale  Fisheries."  In  this  book 
is  an  outline  purporting  to  be  a  "  Picture  of  a  Physeter  or 
Spermaceti  whale,  drawn  by  scale  from  one  killed  on  the  coast 
of  Mexico,  August,  1*793,  and  hoisted  on  deck."  I  doubt  not 
the  captain  had  this  veracious  picture  taken  for  the  benefit  of 
his  marines.  To  mention  but  one  thing  about  it,  let  me  say 
that  it  has  an  eye  which  applied,  according  to  the  accompany- 
ing scale,  to  a  full  grown  sperm  whale,  would  make  the  eye  of 
that  whale  a  bow-window  some  five  feet  long.  Ah,  my  gallant 
captain,  why  did  ye  not  give  us  Jonah  looking  out  of  that 
eye! 

Nor  are  the  most  conscientious  compilations  of  Natural  His- 
tory for  the  benefit  of  the  young  and  tender,  free  from  the  same 
heinousness  of  mistake.  Look  at  that  popular  work  "  Gold- 
smith's Animated  Nature."  In  the  abridged  London  edition  of 
1807,  there  are  plates  of  an  alleged  "  whale  "  and  a  "  narwhale." 
I  do  not  wish  to  seem  inelegant,  but  this  unsightly  whale  looks 
much  like  an  amputated  sow ;  and,  as  for  the  narwhale,  one 
glimpse  at  it  is  enough  to  amaze  one,  that  in  this  nineteenth 
century  such  a  hippogriff  could  be  palmed  for  genuine  upon  any 
intelligent  public  of  schoolboys. 

Then,  again,  in  1825,  Bernard  Germain,  Count  de  Lacepede, 
a  great  naturalist,  published  a  scientific  systemized  whale  book, 
wherein  are  several  pictures  of  the  different  species  of  the  Levia- 


296   MONSTROUS. PICTURES    OF    WHALES. 

than.  All  these  are  not  only  incorrect,  but  the  picture  of  the 
Mysticetus  or  Greenland  whale  (that  is  to  say,  the  Eight  whale), 
even  Scoresby,  a  long  experienced  man  as  touching  that  spe- 
cies, declares  not  to  have  its  counterpart  in  nature. 

But  the  placing  of  the  cap-sheaf  to  all  this  blundering  busi- 
ness was  reserved  for  the  scientific  Frederick  Cuvier,  brother  to 
the  famous  Baron.  In  1836,  he  published  a  Natural  History 
of  Whales,  in  which  he  gives  what  he  calls  a  picture  of  the 
Sperm  Whale.  Before  showing  that  picture  to  any  Nantucketer, 
you  had  best  provide  for  your  summary  retreat  from  Nantucket. 
In  a  word,  Frederick  Cuvier's  Sperm  Whale  is  not  a  Sperm  Whale, 
but  a  squash.  Of  course,  he  never  had  the  benefit  of  a  whal- 
ing voyage  (such  men  seldom  have),  but  whence  he  derived 
that  picture,  who  can  tell  ?  Perhaps  he  got  it  as  his  scientific 
predecessor  in  the  same  field,  Desmarest,  got  one  of  his  authen- 
tic abortions ;  that  is,  from  a  Chinese  drawing.  And  what  sort 
of  lively  lads  with  the  pencil  those  Chinese  are,  many  queer  cups 
and  saucers  inform  us. 

As  for  the  sign-painters'  whales  seen  in  the  streets  hanging 
over  the  shops  of  oil-dealers,  what  shall  be  said  of  them  ?  They 
are  generally  Richard  III.  whales,  with  dromedary  humps,  and 
very  savage ;  breakfasting  on  three  or  four  sailor  tarts,  that  is 
whaleboats  full  of  mariners :  their  deformities  floundering  in 
seas  of  blood  and  blue  paint. 

But  these  manifold  mistakes  in  depicting  the  whale  are  not  so 
very  surprising  after  all.  Consider !  Most  of  the  scientific  draw- 
ings have  been  taken  from  the  stranded  fish ;  and  these  are 
about  as  correct  as  a  drawing  of  a  wrecked  ship,  with  broken 
back,  would  correctly  represent  the  noble  animal  itself  in  all  its 
undashed  pride  of  hull  and  spars.  Though  elephants  have 
stood  for  their  full-lengths,  the  living  Leviathan  has  never  yet 
fairly  floated  himself  for  his  portrait.  The  living  whale,  in  his 
full  majesty  and  significance,  is  only  to  be  seen  at  sea  in  un- 
fathomable waters ;  and  afloat  the  vast  bulk  of  him  is  out  of 


MONSTROUS    PICTURES    OF    WHALES.  297 

sight,  like  a  launched  line-of-battle  ship ;  and  out  of  that  ele- 
ment it  is  a  thing  eternally  impossible  for  mortal  man  to  hoist 
him  bodily  into  the  air,  so  as  to  preserve  all  his  mighty  swells 
and  undulations.  And,  not  to  speak  of  the  highly  presumable 
difference  of  contour  between  a  young  sucking  whale  and  a  full- 
grown  Platonian  Leviathan ;  yet,  even  in  the  case  of  one  of 
those  young  sucking  whales  hoisted  to  a  ship's  deck,  such  is 
then  the  outlandish,  eel-like,  limbered,  varying  shape  of  him, 
that  his  precise  expression  the  devil  himself  could  not  catch. 

But  it  may  be  fancied,  that  from  the  naked  skeleton  of  the 
stranded  whale,  accurate  hints  may  be  derived  touching  his  true 
form.  Not  at  all.  For  it  is  one  of  the  more  curious  things 
about  this  Leviathan,  that  his  skeleton  gives  very  little  idea  of 
his  general  shape.  Though  Jeremy  Bentham's  skeleton,  which 
hangs  for  candelabra  in  the  library  of  one  of  his  executors, 
correctly  conveys  the  idea  of  a  burly-browed  utilitarian  old 
gentleman,  with  all  Jeremy's  other  leading  personal  characteris- 
tics ;  yet  nothing  of  this  kind  could  be  inferred  from  any  levia- 
than's articulated  bones.  In  fact,  as  the  great  Hunter  says,  the 
mere  skeleton  of  the  whale  bears  the  same  relation  to  the  fully 
invested  and  padded  animal  as  the  insect  does  to  the  chrysalis 
that  so  roundingly  envelopes  it.  This  peculiarity  is  strikingly 
evinced  in  the  head,  as  in  some  part  of  this  book  will  be  inci- 
dentally shown.  It  is  also  very  curiously  displayed  in  the  side 
fin,  the  bones  of  which  almost  exactly  answer  to  the  bones  of  the 
human  hand,  minus  only  the  thumb.  This  fin  has  four  regular 
bone-fingers,  the  index,  middle,  ring,  and  little  finger.  But  all 
these  are  permanently  lodged  in  their  fleshy  covering,  as  the 
human  fingers  in  an  artificial  covering.  "  However  recklessly 
the  whale  may  sometimes  serve  us,"  said  humorous  Stubb  one 
day,  "  he  can  never  be  truly  said  to  handle  us  without  mittens." 

For  all  these  reasons,  then,  any  way  you  may  look  at  it,  you 
must  needs  conclude  that  the  great  Leviathan  is  that  one  crea- 
ture in  the  world  which   must  remain  unpainted  to  the  last. 

13* 


298  LESS    ERRONEOUS    PICTURES. 


True,  one  portrait  may  hit  the  mark  much  nearer  than  another, 
but  none  can  hit  it  with  any  very  considerable  degree  of  exact- 
ness. So  there  is  no  earthly  way  of  finding  out  precisely  what 
the  whale  really  looks  like.  And  the  only  mode  in  which  you 
can  derive  even  a  tolerable  idea  of  his  living  contour,  is  by 
going  a  whaling  yourself;  but  by  so  doing,  you  run  no  small 
risk  of  being  eternally  stove  and  sunk  by  him.  Wherefore,  it 
seems  to  me  you  had  best  not  be  too  fastidious  in  your  curiosity 
touching  this  Leviathan. 


CHAPTER  LVI. 

4 

OF    THE    LESS    ERRONEOUS  PICTURES   OF  WHALES,  AND  THE  TRUE 
PICTURES  OF  WHALING  SCENES. 

In  connexion  with  the  monstrous  pictures  of  whales,  I  am 
strongly  tempted  here  to  enter  upon  those  still  more  monstrous 
stories  of  them  which  are  to  be  found  in  certain  books,  both 
ancient  and  modern,  especially  in  Pliny,  Purchas,  Hackluyt, 
Harris,  Cuvier,  &c.     But  I  pass  that  matter  by. 

I  know  of  only  four  published  outlines  of  the  great  Sperm 
Whale ;  Colnett's,  Huggins's,  Frederick  Cuvier's,  and  Beale's. 
In  the  previous  chapter  Colnett  and  Cuvier  have  been  referred 
to.  Huggins's  is  far  better  than  theirs  ;  but,  by  great  odds,Beale's 
is  the  best.  All  Beale's  drawings  of  this  whale  are  good,  except- 
ing the  middle  figure  in  the  picture  of  three  whales  in  various  atti- 
tudes, capping  his  second  chapter.  His  frontispiece,  boats 
attacking  Sperm  Whales,  though  no  doubt  calculated  to  excite  the 
civil  scepticism  of  some  parlor  men,  is  admirably  correct  and 
life-like  in  its  general  effect.  Some  of  the  Sperm  Whale 
drawings  in  J.  Ross  Browne  are  pretty  correct  in  contour  ;  but 
they  are  wretchedly  engraved.     That  is  not  his  fault  though. 


LESS  ERRONEOUS  PICTURES.     2i)9 

Of  the  Right  Whale,  the  hest  outline  pictures  are  in  Scoresby ; 
but  they  are  drawn  on  too  small  a  scale  to  convey  a  desirable 
impression.  He  has  but  one  picture  of  whaling  scenes,  and  this  is 
a  sad  deficiency,  because  it  is  by  such  pictures  only,  when  at  all 
well  done,  that  you  can  derive  anything  like  a  truthful  idea  of 
the  living  whale  as  seen  by  his  living  hunters. 

But,  taken  for  all  in  all,  by  far  the  finest,  though  in  some 
details  not  the  most  correct,  presentations  of  whales  and 
whaling  scenes  to  be  anywhere  found,  are  two  large  French  en- 
gravings, well  executed,  and  taken  from  paintings  by  one 
Garnery.  Respectively,  they  represent  attacks  on  the  Sperm 
and  Right  Whale.  In  the  first  engraving  a  noble  Sperm  Whale 
is  depicted  in  full  majesty  of  might,  just  risen  beneath  the  boat 
from  the  profundities  of  the  ocean,  and  bearing  high  in  the  air 
upon  his  back  the  terrific  wreck  of  the  stoven  planks.  The 
prow  of  the  boat  is  partially  unbroken,  and  is  drawn  just  balanc- 
ing upon  the  monster's  spine ;  and  standing  in  that  prow,  for 
that  one  single  incomputable  flash  of  time,  you  behold  an  oars- 
man, half  shrouded  by  the  incensed  boiling  spout  of  the  whale, 
and  in  the  act  of  leaping,  as  if  from  a  precipice.  The  action  of 
the  whole  thing  is  wonderfully  good  and  true.  The  half- 
emptied  line-tub  floats  on  the  whitened  sea ;  the  wooden  poles 
of  the  spilled  harpoons  obliquely  bob  in  it ;  the  heads  of  the 
swimming  crew  are  scattered  about  the  whale  in  contrasting  ex- 
pressions of  affright ;  while  in  the  black  stormy  distance  the  ship 
is  bearing  down  upon  the  scene.  Serious  fault  might  be  found 
with  the  anatomical  details  of  this  whale,  but  let  that  pass  ; 
since,  for  the  life  of  me,  I  could  not  draw  so  good  a  one. 

In  the  second  engraving,  the  boat  is  in  the  act  of  drawing 
alongside  the  barnacled  flank  of  a  large  running  Right  Whale, 
that  rolls  his  black  weedy  bulk  in  the  sea  like  some  mossy  rock- 
slide  from  the  Patagonian  cliffs.  His  jets  are  erect,  full,  and 
black  like  soot;  so  that  from  so  abounding  a  smoke  in  the 
chimney,  you  would  think  there  must  be  a  brave  supper  cooking 


300  LESS    ERRONEOUS    PICTURES. 

in  the  great  bowels  below.  Sea  fowls  are  pecking  at  the  small 
crabs,  shell-fish,  and  other  sea  candies  and  maccaroni,  which  the 
Right  Whale  sometimes  carries  on  his  pestilent  back.  And  all 
the  while  the  thick-lipped  leviathan  is  rushing  through  the 
deep,  leaving  tons  of  tumultuous  white  curds  in  his  wake,  and 
causing  the  slight  boat  to  rock  in  the  swells  like  a  skiff  caught 
nigh  the  paddle-wheels  of  an  ocean  steamer.  Thus,  the  fore- 
ground is  all  raging  commotion ;  but  behind,  in  admirable 
artistic  contrast,  is  the  glassy  level  of  a  sea  becalmed,  the  droop- 
ing unstarched  sails  of  the  powerless  ship,  and  the  inert  mass  of 
a  dead  whale,  a  conquered  fortress,  with  the  flag  of  capture 
lazily  hanging  from  the  whale-pole  inserted  into  his  spout-hole. 

Who  Garnery  the  painter  is,  or  was,  I  know  not.  But  my 
life  for  it  he  was  either  practically  conversant  with  his  subject, 
or  else  marvellously  tutored  by  some  experienced  whaleman. 
The  French  are  the  lads  for  painting  action.  Go  and  gaze  upon 
all  the  paintings  of  Europe,  and  where  will  you  find  such  a 
gallery  of  living  and  breathing  commotion  on  canvas,  as  in 
that  triumphal  hall  at  Versailles  ;  where  the  beholder  fights  his 
way,  pell-mell,  through  the  consecutive  great  battles  of  France ; 
where  every  sword  seems  a  flash  of  the  Northern  Lights,  and 
the  successive  armed  kings  and  Emperors  dash  by,  like  a  charge 
of  crowned  centaurs  ?  Not  wholly  unworthy  of  a  place  in  that 
gallery,  are  these  sea  battle-pieces  of  Garnery. 

The  natural  aptitude  of  the  French  for  seizing  the  picturesque- 
ness  of  things  seems  to  be  peculiarly  evinced  in  what  paintings 
and  engravings  they  have  of  their  whaling  scenes.  With  not 
one  tenth  of  England's  experience  in  the  fishery,  and  not  the 
thousandth  part  of  that  of  the  Americans,  they  have  neverthe- 
less furnished  both  nations  with  the  only  finished  sketches  at  all 
capable  of  conveying  the  real  spirit  of  the  whale  hunt.  For 
the  most  part,  the  English  and  American  whale  draughtsmen 
seem  entirely  content  with  presenting  the  mechanical  outline  of 
things,  such  as  the  vacant  profile  of  the  whale ;  which,  so  far  as 


LESS    ERRONEOUS    PICTURES.  301 

picturesqueness  of  effect  is  concerned,  is  about  tantamount  to 
sketching  the  profile  of  a  pyramid.  Even  Scoresby,  the  justly 
renowned  Right  -whaleman,  after  giving  us  a  stiff  full  length  of 
the  Greenland  whale,  and  three  or  four  delicate  miniatures  of 
narwhales  and  porpoises,  treats  us  to  a  series  of  classical  engrav- 
ings of  boat  hooks,  chopping  knives,  and  grapnels ;  and  with 
the  microscopic  diligence  of  a  Leuwenhoeck  submits  to  the  in- 
spection of  a  shivering  world  ninety-six  fac-similes  of  magnified 
Arctic  snow  crystals.  I  mean  no  disparagement  to  the  ex- 
cellent voyager  (I  honor  him  for  a  veteran),  but  in  so  important 
a  matter  it  was  certainly  an  oversight  not  to  have  procured  for 
every  crystal  a  sworn  affidavit  taken  before  a  Greenland  Justice 
of  the  Peace. 

In  addition  to  those  fine  engravings  from  Garnery,  there  are 
two  other  French  engravings  worthy  of  note,  by  some  one  who 
subscribes  himself  "  H.  Durand.''  One  of  them,  though  not 
precisely  adapted  to  our  present  purpose,  nevertheless  deserves 
mention  on  other  accounts.  It  is  a  quiet  noon-scene  among 
the  isles  of  the  Pacific ;  a  French  whaler  anchored,  inshore,  in 
a  calm,  and  lazily  taking  water  on  board  ;  the  loosened  sails  of 
the  ship,  and  the  long  leaves  of  the  palms  in  the  background, 
both  drooping  together  in  the  breezeless  air.  The  effect  is  very 
fine,  when  considered  with  reference  to  its  presenting  the  hardy 
fishermen  under  one  of  their  few  aspects  of  oriental  repose. 
The  other  engraving  is  quite  a  different  affair :  the  ship  hove-to 
upon  the  open  sea,  and  in  the  very  heart  of  the  Leviathanic 
life,  with  a  Right  Whale  alongside ;  the  vessel  (in  the  act  of 
cutting-in)  hove  over  to  the  monster  as  if  to  a  quay ;  and  a 
boat,  hurriedly  pushing  off  from  this  scene  of  activity,  is  about 
giving  chase  to  whales  in  the  distance.  The  harpoons  and 
lances  lie  levelled  for  use ;  three  oarsmen  are  just  setting  the 
mast  in  its  hole  ;  while  from  a  sudden  roll  of  the  sea,  the  little 
craft  stands  half-erect  out  of  the  water,  like  a  rearing  horse. 
From  the  ship,  the  smoke  of  the  torments  of  the  boiling  whale 


302       WHALES    VARIOUSLY    REPRESENTED. 


is  going  up  like  the  smoke  over  a  village  of  smithies ;  and  to 
windward,  a  black  cloud,  rising  up  with  earnest  of  squalls  and 
rains,  seems  to  quicken  the  activity  of  the  excited  seamen. 


CHAPTER  LVII. 

OF  WHALES    IN    PAINT  J    IN   TEETH  ;    IN  WOOD  ;    IN    SHEET-IRON  ; 
I«T  STONE  ;    IN  MOUNTAINS  J    IN  STARS. 

On  Tower-hill,  as  you  go  down  to  the  London  docks,  you 
may  have  seen  a  crippled  beggar  (or  kedger,  as  the  sailors  say) 
holding  a  painted  board  before  him,  representing  the  tragic 
scene  in  which  he  lost  his  leg.  There  are  three  whales  and 
three  boats  ;  and  one  of  the  boats  (presumed  to  contain  the 
missing  leg  in  all  its  original  integrity)  is  being  crunched  by 
the  jaws  of  the  foremost  whale.  Any  time  these  ten  years, 
they  tell  me,  has  that  man  held  up  that  picture,  and  exhibited 
that  stump  to  an  incredulous  world.  But  the  time  of  his  justi- 
fication has  now  come.  His  three  whales  are  as  good  whales 
as  were  ever  published  in  Wapping,  at  any  rate ;  and  his 
stump  as  unquestionable  a  stump  as  any  you  will  find  in  the 
western  clearings.  But,  though  for  ever  mounted  on  that  stump, 
never  a  stump-speech  does  the  poor  whaleman  make  ;  but,  with 
downcast  eyes,  stands  ruefully  contemplating  his  own  amputa- 
tion. 

Throughout  the  Pacific,  and  also  in  Nantucket,  and  New 
Bedford,  and  Sag  Harbor,  you  will  come  across  lively  sketches 
of  whales  and  whaling-scenes,  graven  by  the  fishermen  them- 
selves on  Sperm  Whale-teeth,  or  ladies'  busks  wrought  out  of 
the  Right  Whale-bone,  and  other  like  skrimshander  articles,  as 
the  whalemen  call  the  numerous  little  ingenious  contrivances 
they  elaborately  carve  out  of  the  rough  material,  in  their  hours 
of  ocean  leisure.     Some  of  them  have  little  boxes  of  dentistical- 


WHALES    VARIOUSLY    REPRESENTED.      303 

looking  implements,  specially  intended  for  the  skrimshandering 
business.  But,  in  general,  they  toil  with  their  jack-knives  alone  ; 
and,  with  that  almost  omnipotent  tool  of  the  sailor,  they  will 
turn  you  out  anything  you  please,  in  the  way  of  a  mariner's 
fancy. 

Long  exile  from  Christendom  and  civilization  inevitably 
restores  a  man  to  that  condition  in  which  God  placed  him,  i.  e. 
what  is  called  savagery.  Your  true  whale-hunter  is  as  much  a 
savage  as  an  Iroquois.  I  myself  am  a  savage,  owning  no  alle- 
giance but  to  the  King  of  the  Cannibals ;  and  ready  at  any 
moment  to  rebel  against  him. 

Now,  one  of  the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  savage  in  his 
domestic  hours,  is  his  wonderful  patience  of  industry.  An 
ancient  Hawaiian  war-club  or  spear-paddle,  in  its  full  multipli- 
city and  elaboration  of  carving,  is  as  great  a  trophy  of  human 
perseverance  as  a  Latin  lexicon.  For,  with  but  a  bit  of  broken 
sea-shell  or  a  shark's  tooth,  that  miraculous  intricacy  of  wooden 
net-work  has  been  achieved ;  and  it  has  cost  steady  years  of 
steady  application. 

As  with  the  Hawaiian  savage,  so  with  the  white  sailor- 
savage.  With  the  same  marvellous  patience,  and  with  the 
same  single  shark's  tooth,  of  his  one  poor  jack-knife,  he  will 
carve  you  a  bit  of  bone  sculpture,  not  quite  as  workmanlike, 
but  as  close  packed  in  its  maziness  of  design,  as  the  Greek 
►savage,  Achilles's  shield  ;  and  full  of  barbaric  spirit  and  suggest- 
iveness,  as  the  prints  of  that  fine  old  Dutch  savage,  Albert 
Durer. 

Wooden  whales,  or  whales  cut  in  profile  out  of  the  small 
dark  slabs  of  the  noble  South  Sea  war- wood,  are  frequently  met 
with  in  the  forecastles  of  American  whalers.  Some  of  them 
are  done  with  much  accuracy. 

At   some  old   gable-roofed   country    houses  you   will  see 
brass  whales  hung  by  the  tail  for  knockers  to  the  road-side  t 
door.     When   the   porter  is  sleepy,  the   anvil-headed  whale 


304      WHALES    VARIOUSLY    REPRESENTED. 

would  be  best.  But  these  knocking  whales  are  seldom  remark- 
able as  faithful  essays.  On  the  spires  of  some  old-fashioned 
churches  you  will  see  sheet-iron  whales  placed  there  for  weather- 
cocks ;  but  they  are  so  elevated,  and  besides  that  are  to  all  in- 
tents and  purposes  so  labelled  with  "  Hands  off!"  you  cannot 
examine  them  closely  enough  to  decide  upon  their  merit. 

In  bony,  ribby  regions  of  the  earth,  where  at  the  base  of  high 
broken  cliffs  masses  of  rock  he  strewn  in  fantastic  groupings 
upon  the  plain,  you  will  often  discover  images  as  of  the  petrified 
forms  of  the  Leviathan  partly  merged  in  grass,  which  of  a  windy 
day  breaks  against  them  in  a  surf  of  green  surges. 

Then,  again,  in  mountainous  countries  where  the  traveller  is 
continually  girdled  by  amphitheatrical  heights  ;  here  and  there 
from  some  lucky  point  of  view  you  will  catch  passing  glimpses 
of  the  profiles  of  whales  defined  along  the  undulating  ridges. 
But  you  must  be  a  thorough  whaleman,  to  see  these  sights ; 
and  not  only  that,  but  if  you  wish  to  return  to  such  a  sight 
again,  you  must  be  sure  and  take  the  exact  intersecting  latitude 
and  longitude  of  your  first  stand-point,  else  so  chance-like  are 
such  observations  of  the  hills,  that  your  precise,  previous  stand- 
point would  require  a  laborious  re-discovery ;  like  the  Soloma 
islands,  which  still  remain  incognita,  though  once  high-ruffed 
Mend  anna  trod  them  and  old  Figuera  chronicled  them. 

Nor  when  expandingly  lifted  by  your  subject,  can  you  fail  to 
trace  out  great  whales  in  the  starry  heavens,  and  boats  in  pur- 
suit of  them ;  as  when  long  filled  with  thoughts  of  war  the 
Eastern  nations  saw  armies  locked  in  battle  among  the  clouds. 
Thus  at  the  North  have  I  chased  Leviathan  round  and  round 
the  Pole  with  the  revolutions  of  the  bright  points  that  first  de- 
fined him  to  me.  And  beneath  the  effulgent  Antarctic  skies 
I  have  boarded  the  Argo-Navis,  and  joined  the  chase  against 
the  starry  Cetus  far  beyond  the  utmost  stretch  of  Hydrus  and 
the  Flying  Fish. 

With  a  frigate's  anchors  for  my  bridle-bitts  and  fasces  of  har- 


BRIT.  305 


poons  for  spurs,  would  I  could  mount  that  whale  and  leap  the 
topmost  skies,  to  see  whether  the  fabled  heavens  with  all  their 
countless  tents  really  he  encamped  beyond  my  mortal  sight ! 


CHAPTER  LVIII. 

BRIT. 

Steering  north-eastward  from  the  Crozetts,  we  fell  in  with 
vast  meadows  of  brit,  the  minute,  yellow  substance,  upon  which 
the  Right  "Whale  largely  feeds.  For  leagues  and  leagues  it 
undulated  round  us,  so  that  we  seemed  to  be  sailing  through 
boundless  fields  of  ripe  and  golden  wheat. 

On  the  second  day,  numbers  of  Right  Whales  were  seen, 
who,  secure  from  the  attack  of  a  Sperm  Whaler  like  the 
Pequod,  with  open  jaws  sluggishly  swam  through  the  brit, 
which,  adhering  to  the  fringing  fibres  of  that  wondrous  Venetian 
blind  in  their  mouths,  was  in  that  manner  separated  from  the 
water  that  escaped  at  the  lip. 

As  morning  mowers,  who  side  by  side  slowly  and  seethingly 
advance  their  scythes  through  the  long  wet  grass  of  marshy 
meads  ;  even  so  these  monsters  swam,  making  a  strange,  grassy, 
cutting  sound  ;  and  leaving  behind  them  endless  swaths  of 
blue  upon  the  yellow  sea.* 

But  it  was  only  the  sound  they  made  as  they  parted  the  brit 
which  at  all  reminded  one  of  mowers.  Seen  from  the  mast- 
heads, especially  when  they  paused  and  were  stationary  for  a 

*  That  part  of  the  sea  known  among  whalemen  as  the  "  Brazil  Banks" 
does  not  bear  that  name  as  the  Banks  of  Newfoundland  do,  because 
of  there  being  shallows  and  soundings  there,  but  because  of  this  remark- 
able meadow-like  appearance,  caused  by  the  vast  drifts  of  brit  continually 
floating  in  those  latitudes,  where  the  Right  Whale  is  often  chased. 


306  BRIT. 

while,  their  vast  black  forms  looked  more  like  lifeless  masses  of 
rock  than  anything  else.  And  as  in  the  great  hunting 
countries  of  India,  the  stranger  at  a  distance  will  sometimes 
pass  on  the  plains  recumbent  elephants  without  knowmg  them 
to  be  such,  taking*  them  for  bare,  blackened  elevations  of  the 
soil ;  even  so,  often,  with  him,  who  for  the  first  time  beholds 
this  species  of  the  leviathans  of  the  sea.  And  even  when  re- 
cognised at  last,  their  immense  magnitude  renders  it  very  hard 
really  to  believe  that  such  bulky  masses  of  overgrowth  can 
possibly  be  instinct,  in  all  parts,  with  the  same  sort  of  life  that 
lives  in  a  dog  or  a  horse. 

Indeed,  in  other  respects,  you  can  hardly  regard  any  creatures 
of  the  deep  with  the  same  feelings  that  you  do  those  of  the 
shore.  For  though  some  old  naturalists  have  maintained  that 
all  creatures  of  the  land  are  of  their  kind  in  the  sea ;  and 
though  taking  a  broad  general  view  of  the  thing,  this  may  very 
well  be ;  yet  coming  to  specialities,  where,  for  example,  does  the 
ocean  furnish  any  fish  that  in  disposition  answers  to  the 
sagacious  kindness  of  the  dog  ?  The  accursed  shark  alone  can 
in  any  generic  respect  be  said  to  bear  comparative  analogy  to 
him. 

But  though,  to  landsmen  in  general,  the  native  inhabitants  of 
the  seas  have  ever  been  regarded  with  emotions  unspeakably 
unsocial  and  repelling ;  though  we  know  the  sea  to  be  an  ever- 
lasting terra  incognita,  so  that  Columbus  sailed  over  number- 
less unknown  worlds  to  discover  his  one  superficial  western  one ; 
though,  by  vast  odds,  the  most  terrific  of  all  mortal  disasters 
have  immemorially  and  indiscriminately  befallen  tens  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  those  who  have  gone  upon  the 
waters ;  though  but  a  moment's  consideration  will  teach,  that 
however  baby  man  may  brag  of  his  science  and  skill,  and 
however  much,  in  a  flattering  future,  that  science  and  skill  may 
augment ;  yet  for  ever  and  for  ever,  to  the  crack  of  doom,  the 
sea  will  insult  and  murder  him,  and  pulverize  tho  stateliest, 


BRIT.  307 

stiffest  frigate  lie  can  make;  nevertheless,  by  the  continual 
repetition  of  these  very  impressions,  man  has  lost  that  sense  of 
the  full  awfulness  of  the  sea  -which  aboriginally  belongs  to  it. 

The  first  boat  we  read  of,  floated  on  an  ocean,  that  with 
Portuguese  vengeance  had  whelmed  a  whole  world  without 
leaving  so  much  as  a  widow.  That  same  ocean  rolls  now ; 
that  same  ocean  destroyed  the  wrecked  ships  of  last  year. 
Yea,  foolish  mortals,  Noah's  flood  is  not  yet  subsided ;  two 
thirds  of  the  fair  world  it  yet  covers. 

Wherein  differ  the  sea  and  the  land,  that  a  miracle  upon  one 
is  not  a  miracle  upon  the  other  ?  Preternatural  terrors  rested 
upon  the  Hebrews,  when  under  the  feet  of  Korah  and  his  company 
the  five  ground  opened  and  swallowed  them  up  for  ever ;  yet 
not  a  modern  sun  ever  sets,  but  in  precisely  the  same  manner 
the  five  sea  swallows  up  ships  and  crews. 

But  not  only  is  the  sea  such  a  foe  to  man  who  is  an  alien  to 
it,  but  it  is  also  a  fiend  to  its  own  offspring ;  worse  than  the 
Persian  host  who  murdered  his  own  guests ;  sparing  not  the 
creatures  which  itself  hath  spawned.  Like  a  savage  tigress 
that  tossing  in  the  jungle  overlays  her  own  cubs,  so  the  sea 
dashes  even  the  mightiest  whales  against  the  rocks,  and  leaves 
them  there  side  by  side  with  the  split  wrecks  of  ships.  No 
mercy,  no  power  but  its  own  controls  it.  Panting  and  snorting 
like  a  mad  battle  steed  that  has  lost  its  rider,  the  masterless 
ocean  overruns  the  globe. 

Consider  the  subtleness  of  the  sea ;  how  its  most  dreaded 
creatures  glide  under  water,  un apparent  for  the  most  part,  and 
treacherously  hidden  beneath  the  loveliest  tints  of  azure.  Con- 
sider also  the  devilish  brilliance  and  beauty  of  many  of  its  most 
remorseless  tribes,  as  the  dainty  embellished  shape  of  many 
species  of  sharks.  Consider,  once  more,  the  universal  cannibal- 
ism of  the  sea ;  all  whose  creatures  prey  upon  each  other, 
carrying  on  eternal  war  since  the  world  began. 
,    Consider  all  this ;  and  then  turn  to  this  green,  gentle,  and 


308  SQUID. 

most  docile  earth ;  consider  them  both,  the  sea  and  the  land  ; 
and  do  you  not  find  a  strange  analogy  to  something  in 
yourself?  For  as  this  appalhng  ocean  surrounds  the  verdant 
land,  so  in  the  soul  of  man  there  lies  one  insular  Tahiti,  full  of 
peace  and  joy,  but  encompassed  by  all  the  horrors  of  the  half 
known  life.  God  keep  thee  !  Push  not  off  from  that  isle, 
thou  canst  never  return ! 


CHAPTER  LIX. 

SQUID. 

Slowly  wading  through  the  meadows  of  brit,  the  Pequod 
still  held  on  her  way  north-eastward  towards  the  island  of  Java ; 
a  gentle  air  impelling  her  keel,  so  that  in  the  surrounding 
serenity  her  three  tall  tapering  masts  mildly  waved  to  that 
languid  breeze,  as  three  mild  palms  on  a  plain.  And  still,  at 
wide  intervals  in  the  silvery  night,  the  lonely,  alluring  jet  would 
be  seen. 

But  one  transparent  blue  morning,  when  a  stillness  almost 
preternatural  spread  over  the  sea,  however  unattended  with  any 
stagnant  calm ;  when  the  long  burnished  sun-glade  on  the  waters 
seemed  a  golden  finger  laid  across  them,  enjoining  some  secresy ; 
when  the  slippered  waves  whispered  together  as  they  softly  ran 
on ;  in  this  profound  hush  of  the  visible  sphere  a  strange  spectre 
was  seen  by  Daggoo  from  the  main-mast-head. 

In  the  distance,  a  great  white  mass  lazily  rose,  and  rising 
higher  and  higher,  and  disentangling  itself  from  the  azure,  at 
last  gleamed  before  our  prow  like  a  snow-slide,  new  slid  from 
the  hills.  Thus  glistening  for  a  moment,  as  slowly  it  subsided, 
and  sank.  Then  once  more  arose,  and  silently  gleamed.  It 
seemed  not  a  whale ;  and  yet  is  this  Moby  Dick  ?  thought 
Daggoo.     Again  the  phantom  went  down,  but  on  re-appearing 


SQUID.  309 

once  more,  with  a  stiletto-like  cry  that  startled  every  man  from 
his  nod,  the  negro  yelled  out — "  There !  there  again !  there  she 
breaches !  right  ahead !     The  White  Whale,  the  White  Whale !" 

Upon  this,  the  seamen  rushed  to  the  yard-arms,  as  in  swarm- 
ing-time  the  bees  rush  to  the  boughs.  Bare-headed  in  the 
sultry  sun,  Ahab  stood  on  the  bowsprit,  and  with  one  hand 
pushed  far  behind  in  readiness  to  wave  his  orders  to  the  helms- 
man, cast  his  eager  glance  in  the  direction  indicated  aloft  by  the 
outstretched  motionless  arm  of  Daggoo. 

Whether  the  flitting  attendance  of  the  one  still  and  solitary 
jet  had  gradually  worked  upon  Ahab,  so  that  he  was  now  pre- 
pared to  connect  the  ideas  of  mildness  and  repose  with  the  first 
sight  of  the  particular  whale  he  pursued ;  however  this  was,  or 
whether  his  eagerness  betrayed  him  ;  whichever  way  it  might 
have  been,  no  sooner  did  he  distinctly  perceive  the  white  mass, 
than  with  a  quick  intensity  he  instantly  gave  orders  for  low- 
ering. 

The  four  boats  were  soon  on  the  water ;  Ahab's  in  advance, 
and  all  swiftly  pulling  towards  their  prey.  Soon  it  went  down,  and 
while,  with  oars  suspended,  we  were  awaiting  its  reappearance, 
lo !  in  the  same  spot  where  it  sank,  once  more  it  slowly  rose. 
Almost  forgetting  for  the  moment  all  thoughts  of  Moby  Dick, 
we  now  gazed  at  the  most  wondrous  phenomenon  which  the 
secret  seas  have  hitherto  revealed  to  mankind.  A  vast  pulpy 
mass,  furlongs  in  length  and  breadth,  of  a  glancing  cream-color, 
lay  floating  on  the  water,  innumerable  long  arms  radiating 
from  its  centre,  and  curling  and  twisting  like  a  nest  of  anacon- 
das, as  if  blindly  to  clutch  at  any  hapless  object  within  reach. 
No  perceptible  face  or  front  did  it  have ;  no  conceivable  token 
of  either  sensation  or  instinct ;  but  undulated  there  on  the  bil- 
lows, an  unearthly,  formless,  chance-like  apparition  of  life. 

As  with  a  low  sucking  sound  it  slowly  disappeared  again, 
Starbuck  still  gazing  at  the  agitated  waters  where  it  had  sunk, 
with  a  wild  voice  exclaimed — "  Almost  rather  had  I  seen  Moby 


310  SQUID. 

Dick  and  fought  him,  than  to  have  seen  thee,  thou  white 
ghost !" 

"  What  was  it,  Sir  ?"  said  Flask. 

"  The  great  live  squid,  which,  they  say,  few  whale-ships  ever 
beheld,  and  returned  to  their  ports  to  tell  of  it." 

But  Ahab  said  nothing ;  turning  his  boat,  he  sailed  back  to 
the  vessel ;  the  rest  as  silently  following. 

Whatever  superstitions  the  sperm  whalemen  in  general  have 
connected  with  the  sight  of  this  object,  certain  it  is,  that  a 
glimpse  of  it  being  so  very  unusual,  that  circumstance  has  gone 
far  to  invest  it  with  portentousness.  So  rarely  is  it  beheld,  that 
though  one  and  all  of  them  declare  it  to  be  the  largest  ani- 
mated thing  in  the  ocean,  yet  very  few  of  them  have  any  but 
the  most  vague  ideas  concerning  its  true  nature  and  form ; 
notwithstanding,  they  believe  it  to  furnish  to  the  sperm  whale 
his  only  food.  For  though  other  species  of  whales  find  their 
food  above  water,  and  may  be  seen  by  man  in  the  act  of  feed- 
ing, the  spermaceti  whale  obtains  his  whole  food  in  unknown 
zones  below  the  surface ;  and  only  by  inference  is  it  that  any 
one  can  tell  of  what,  precisely,  that  food  consists.  At  times, 
when  closely  pursued,  he  will  disgorge  what  are  supposed  to  be 
the  detached  arms  of  the  squid ;  some  of  them  thus  exhibited 
exceeding  twenty  and  thirty  feet  in  length.  They  fancy  that 
the  monster  to  which  these  arms  belonged  ordinarily  clings  by 
them  to  the  bed  of  the  ocean ;  and  that  the  sperm  whale,  unlike 
other  species,  is  supplied  with  teeth  in  order  to  attack  and  tear  it. 

There  seems  some  ground  to  imagine  that  the  great  Kraken 
of  Bishop  Pontoppodan  may  ultimately  resolve  itself  into  Squid. 
The  manner  in  which  the  Bishop  describes  it,  as  alternately  ris- 
ing and  sinking,  with  some  other  particulars  he  narrates,  in  all 
this  the  two  correspond.  But  much  abatement  is  necessary 
with  respect  to  the  incredible  bulk  he  assigns  it. 

By  some  naturalists  who  have  vaguely  heard  rumors  of  the 
mysterious  creature,  hei'e  spoken  of,  it  is  included  among  the 


THE    LINE.  311 


class  of  cuttle-fish,  to  which,  indeed,  in  certain  external  respects 
it  would  seem  to  belong,  but  only  as  the  Anak  of  the  tribe. 


CHAPTER  LX. 

THE   LINE. 

With  reference  to  the  whaling  scene  shortly  to  be  described, 
as  well  as  for  the  better  understanding  of  all  similar  scenes  else- 
where presented,  I  have  here  to  speak  of  the  magical,  some- 
times horrible  whale-line. 

The  line  originally  used  in  the  fishery  was  of  the  best  hemp, 
slightly  vapored  with  tar,  not  impregnated  with  it,  as  in  the 
case  of  ordinary  ropes  ;  for  while  tar,  as  ordinarily  used,  makes 
the  hemp  more  pliable  to  the  rope-maker,  and  also  renders  the 
rope  itself  more  convenient  to  the  sailor  for  common  ship  use  ; 
yet,  not  only  would  the  ordinary  quantity  too  much  stiffen  the 
whale-line  for  the  close  coiling  to  which  it  must  be  subjected  ; 
but  as  most  seamen  are  beginning  to  learn,  tar  in  general  by  no 
means  adds  to  the  rope's  durability  or  strength,  however  much 
it  may  give  it  compactness  and  gloss. 

Of  late  years  the  Manilla  rope  has  in  the  American  fishery 
almost  entirely  superseded  hemp  as  a  material  for  whale-lines  ; 
for,  though  not  so  durable  as  hemp,  it  is  stronger,  and  far  more 
soft  and  elastic ;  and  I  will  add  (since  there  is  an  aesthetics  in 
all  things),  is  much  more  handsome  and  becoming  to  the  boat, 
than  hemp.  Hemp  is  a  dusky,  dark  fellow,  a  sort  of  Indian  ; 
but  Manilla  is  as  a  golden-haired  Circassian  to  behold. 

The  whale  line  is  only  two  thirds  of  an  inch  in  thickness. 
At  first  sight,  you  would  not  think  it  so  strong  as  it  really  is. 
By  experiment  its  one  and  fifty  yarns  will  each  suspend  a  weight 
of  one  hundred  and  twenty  pounds  ;  so  that  the  whole  rope  will 
bear  a  strain  nearly  equal  to  three  tons.     In  length,  the  common 


312  THE    LINE. 


sperm  whale-line  measures  something  over  two  hundred  fa- 
thoms. Towards  the  stern  of  the  boat  it  is  spirally  coiled  away 
in  the  tub,  not  like  the  worm-pipe  of  a  still  though,  but  so  as 
to  form  one  round,  cheese-shaped  mass  of  densely  bedded 
"sheaves,"  or  layers  of  concentric  spiralizations,  without  any 
hollow  but  the  "  heart,"  or  minute  vertical  tube  formed  at  the 
axis  of  the  cheese.  As  the  least  tangle  or  kink  in  the  coiling 
would,  in  running  out,  infallibly  take  somebody's  arm,  leg,  or 
entire  body  off,  the  utmost  precaution  is  used  in  stowing  the 
line  in  its  tub.  Some  harpooneers  will  consume  almost  an  entire 
morning  in  this  business,  carrying  the  line  high  aloft  and  then 
reeving  it  downwards  through  a  block  towards  the  tub,  so  as  in 
the  act  of  coiling  to  free  it  from  all  possible  wrinkles  and  twists. 

In  the  English  boats  two  tubs  are  used  instead  of  one  ;  the 
same  line  being  continuously  coiled  in  both  tubs.  There  is 
some  advantage  in  this ;  because  these  twin-tubs  being  so  small 
they  fit  more  readily  into  the  boat,  and  do  not  strain  it  so  much  ; 
whereas,  the  American  tub,  nearly  three  feet  in  diameter  and 
of  proportionate  depth,  makes  a  rather  bulky  freight  for  a 
craft  whose  planks  are  but  one  half-inch  in  thickness ;  for  the 
bottom  of  the  whale-boat  is  like  critical  ice,  which  will  bear  up 
a  considerable  distributed  weight,  but  not  very  much  of  a  con- 
centrated one.  When  the  painted  canvas  cover  is  clapped  on 
the  American  line-tub,  the  boat  looks  as  if  it  were  pulling  off 
with  a  prodigious  great  wedding-cake  to  present  to  the  whales. 

Both  ends  of  the  line  are  exposed ;  the  lower  end  terminat- 
ing in  an  eye-splice  or  loop  coming  up  from  the  bottom  against 
the  side  of  the  tub,  and  hanging  over  its  edge  completely  dis- 
engaged from  everything.  This  arrangement  of  the  lower  end 
is  necessary  on  two  accounts.  First :  In  order  to  facilitate  the 
fastening  to  it  of  an  additional  line  from  a  neighboring  boat,  in 
case  the  stricken  whale  should  sound  so  deep  as  to  threaten 
to  carry  off  the  entire  line  originally  attached  to  the  har- 
poon.    In  these  instances,  the  whale  of  course  is  shifted  like 


THE    LINE.  313 


a  mug  of  ale,  as  it  were,  from  the  one  boat  to  the  other ; 
though  the  first  boat  always  hovers  at  hand  to  assist  its  consort. 
Second :  This  arrangement  is  indispensable  for  common  safety's 
sake  ;  for  were  the  lower  end  of  the  line  in  any  way  attached 
to  the  boat,  and  were  the  whale  then  to  run  the  line  out  to  the 
end  almost  in  a  single,  smoking  minute  as  he  sometimes  does, 
he  would  not  stop  there,  for  the  doomed  boat  would  infallibly 
be  dragged  down  after  him  into  the  profundity  of  the  sea ; 
and  in  that  case  no  town-crier  would  ever  find  her  again. 

Before  lowering  the  boat  for  the  chase,  the  upper  end  of  the 
line  is  taken  aft  from  the  tub,  and  passing  round  the  logger- 
head there,  is  again  earned  forward  the  entire  length  of  the 
boat,  resting  crosswise  upon  the  loom  or  handle  of  every  man's 
oar,  so  that  it  jogs  against  his  wrist  in  rowing ;  and  also  passing 
between  the  men,  as  they  alternately  sit  at  the  opposite  gun- 
wales, to  the  leaded  chocks  or  grooves  in  the  extreme  pointed 
prow  of  the  boat,  where  a  wooden  pin  or  skewer  the  size  of  a 
common  quill,  prevents  it  from  slipping  out.  From  the  chocks 
it  hangs  in  a  slight  festoon  over  the  bows,  and  is  then  passed 
inside  the  boat  again ;  and  some  ten  or  twenty  fathoms  (called 
box-fine)  being  coiled  upon  the  box  in  the  bows,  it  continues 
its  way  to  the  gunwale  still  a  little  further  aft,  and  is  then 
attached  to  the  short-warp — the  rope  which  is  immediately  con- 
nected with  the  harpoon ;  but  previous  to  that  connexion,  the 
short-warp  goes  through  sundry  mystifications  too  tedious  to 
detail. 

Thus  the  whale-fine  folds  the  whole  boat  in  its  complicated 
coils,  twisting  and  writhing  around  it  in  almost  every  direction. 
All  the  oarsmen  are  involved  in  its  perilous  contortions  ;  so 
that  to  the  timid  eye  of  the  landsman,  they  seem  as  Indian 
jugglers,  with  the  deadliest  snakes  sportively  festooning  their 
limbs.  Nor  can  any  son  of  mortal  woman,  for  the  first  time, 
seat  himself  amid  those  hempen  intricacies,  and  while  straining 
his   utmost   at  the   oar,  bethink  him  that  at   any  unknown 

14 


314  THE    LINE. 


instant  the  harpoon  may  be  darted,  and  all  these  horrible  con- 
tortion be  put  in  play  like  ringed  lightnings ;  he  cannot  be  thus 
circumstanced  without  a  shudder  that  makes  the  very  marrow 
in  his  bones  to  quiver  in  him  like  a  shaken  jelly.  Yet  habit — 
strange  thing  !  what  cannot  habit  accomplish  ? — Gayer  sallies, 
more  merry  mirth,  better  jokes,  and  brighter  repartees,  you 
never  heard  over  your  mahogany,  than  you  will  hear  over  the 
half-inch  white  cedar  of  the  whale-boat,  when  thus  hung  in 
hangman's  nooses ;  and,  like  the  six  burghers  of  Calais  before 
King  Edward,  the  six  men  composing  the  crew  pull  into  the 
jaws  of  death,  with  a  halter  around  every  neck,  as  you  may 
say. 

Perhaps  a  very  little  thought  will  now  enable  you  to  account 
for  those  repeated  whaling  disasters — some  few  of  which  are 
casually  chronicled — of  this  man  or  that  man  being  taken  out 
of  the  boat  by  the  line,  and  lost.  For,  when  the  line  is  darting 
out,  to  be  seated  then  in  the  boat,  is  like  being  seated  in  the 
midst  of  the  manifold  whizzings  of  a  steam-engine  in  full  play, 
when  every  flying  beam,  and  shaft,  and  wheel,  is  grazing  you. 
It  is  worse  ;  for  you  cannot  sit  motionless  in  the  heart  of  these 
perils,  because  the  boat  is  rocking  like  a  cradle,  and  you  are 
pitched  one  way  and  the  other,  without  the  slightest  warning ; 
and  only  by  a  certain  self-adjusting  buoyancy  and  simultaneous- 
ness  of  volition  and  action,  can  you  escape  being  made  a 
Mazeppa  of,  and  run  away  with  where  the  all-seeing  sun  him- 
self could  never  pierce  you  out. 

Again  :  as  the  profound  calm  which  only  apparently  precedes 
and  prophesies  of  the  storm,  is  perhaps  more  awful  than  the 
6torm  itself;  for,  indeed,  the  calm  is  but  the  wrapper  and 
envelope  of  the  storm  ;  and  contains  it  in  itself,  as  the  seemingly 
harmless  rifle  holds  the  fatal  powder,  and  the  ball,  and  the  explo- 
sion ;  so  the  graceful  repose  of  the  line,  as  it  silently  serpentines 
about  the  oarsmen  before  being  brought  into  actual  play — this 
is  a  thing  which  carries  more  of  true  terror  than  any  other 


STUBB    KILLS    A    WHALE.  315 

aspect  of  this  dangerous  affair.  But  why  say  more  ?  All  men 
live  enveloped:  in  whale-lines.  All  are  born  with  halters  round 
their  necks  ;  but  it  is  only  when  caught  in  the  swift,  sudden 
turn  of  death,  that  mortals  realize  the  silent,  subtle,  ever-present 
perils  of  life.  And  if  you  be  a  philosopher,  though  seated  in 
the  whale-boat,  you  would  not  at  heart  feel  one  whit  more  of 
terror,  than  though  seated  before  your  evening  fire  with  a 
poker,  and  not  a  harpoon,  by  your  side. 


CHAPTER  LXI. 

STUBB  KILLS  A  WHALE. 

If  to  Starbuck  the  apparition  of  the  Squid  was  a  thing  of 
portents,  to  Queequeg  it  was  quite  a  different  object. 

"  When  you  see  him  'quid,"  said  the  savage,  honing  his 
harpoon  in  the  bow  of  his  hoisted  boat,  "  then  you  quick  see 
him  'parm  whale." 

The  next  day  was  exceedingly  still  and  sultry,  and  with 
nothing  special  to  engage  them,  the  Pequod's  crew  could  hardly 
resist  the  spell  of  sleep  induced  by  such  a  vacant  sea.  For  this 
part  of  the  Indian  Ocean  through  which  we  then  were  voyaging 
is  not  what  whalemen  call  a  lively  ground ;  that  is,  it  affords 
fewer  glimpses  of  porpoises,  dolphins,  flying-fish,  and  other 
vivacious  denizens  of  more  stirring  waters,  than  those  off  the  Rio 
de  la  Plata,  or  the  in-shore  ground  off  Peru. 

It  was  my  turn  to  stand  at  the  foremast-head  ;  and  with  my 
shoulders  leaning  against  the  slackened  royal  shrouds,  to  and 
fro  I  idly  swayed  in  what  seemed  an  enchanted  air.  No  resolu- 
tion could  withstand  it ;  in  that  dreamy  mood  losing  all  con- 
sciousness, at  last  my  soul  went  out  of  my  body ;  though  my 
body  still  continued  to  sway  as  a  pendulum  will,  long  after  the 
power  which  first  moved  it  is  withdrawn. 


316  STUBB    KILLS    A    WHALE. 

Ere  forgetfulness  altogether  came  over  me,  I  had  noticed  that 
the  seamen  at  the  main  and  mizen  mast-heads  were  already 
drowsy.  So  that  at  last  all  three  of  us  lifelessly  swung  from 
the  spars,  and  for  every  swing  that  we  made  there  was  a  nod 
from  below  from  the  slumbering  helmsman.  The  waves,  too, 
nodded  their  indolent  crests ;  and  across  the  wide  trance  of  the 
sea,  east  nodded  to  west,  and  the  sun  over  all. 

Suddenly  bubbles  seemed  bursting  beneath  my  closed  eyes  ; 
like  vices  my  hands  grasped  the  shrouds ;  some  invisible,  gracious 
agency  preserved  me  ;  with  a  shock  I  came  back  to  life.  And 
lo !  close  under  our  lee,  not  forty  fathoms  off,  a  gigantic  Sperm 
"Whale  lay  rolling  in  the  water  like  the  capsized  hull  of  a  frigate, 
his  broad,  glossy  back,  of  an  Ethiopian  hue,  glistening  in  the 
sun's  rays  like  a  mirror.  But  lazily  undulating  in  the  trough  of 
the  sea,  and  ever  and  anon  tranquilly  spouting  his  vapory  jet, 
the  whale  looked  like  a  portly  burgher  smoking  his  pipe  of  a 
warm  afternoon.  But  that  pipe',  poor  whale,  was  thy  last.  As 
if  struck  by  some  enchanter's  wand,  the  sleepy  ship  and  eveiy 
sleeper  in  it  all  at  once  started  into  wakefulness ;  and  more  than 
a  score  of  voices  from  all  parts  of  the  vessel,  simultaneously  with 
the  three  notes  from  aloft,  shouted  forth  the  accustomed  cry,  as 
the  great  fish  slowly  and  regularly  spouted  the  sparkling  brine 
into  the  air. 

"Clear  away  the  boats!  Luff!"  cried  Ahab.  And  obeying 
his  own  order,  he  'dashed  the  helm  down  before  the  helmsman 
could  handle  the  spokes. 

The  sudden  exclamations  of  the  crew  must  have  alarmed  the 
whale  ;•  and  ere  the  boats  were  down,  majestically  turning,  he 
swam  away  to  the  leeward,  but  with  such  a  steady  tranquillity, 
and  making  so  few  ripples  as  he  swam,  that  thinking  after  all 
he  might  not  as  yet  be  alarmed,  Ahab  gave  orders  that  not  an 
oar  should  be  used,  and  no  man  must  speak  but  in  whispers. 
So  seated  like  Ontario  Indians  on  the  gunwales  of  the  boats,  we 
swiftly  but  silently  paddled  along ;  the  calm  not  admitting  of 


STUBB    KILLS    A    WHALE.  317 

the  noiseless  sails  being  set.  Presently,  as  we  thus  glided  in 
chase,  the  monster  perpendicularly  flitted  his  tail  forty  feet  into 
the  ah,  and  then  sank  out  of  sight  like  a  tower  swallowed  up. 

"  There  go  flukes !"  was  the  cry,  an  announcement  immedi- 
ately followed  by  Stubb's  producing  his  match  and  igniting  his 
pipe,  for  now  a  respite  was  granted.  After  the  full  interval 
of  his  sounding  had  elapsed,  the  whale  rose  again,  and  being 
now  in  advance  of  the  smoker's  boat,  and  much  nearer  to  it 
than  to  any  of  the  others,  Stubb  counted  upon  the  honor  of  the 
capture.  It  was  obvious,  now,  that  the  whale  had  at  length  be- 
come aware  of  his  pursuers.  All  silence  of  cautiousness  was 
therefore  no  longer  of  use.  Paddles  were  dropped,  and  oars 
came  loudly  into  play.  And  still  puffing  at  his  pipe,  Stubb 
cheered  on  his  crew  to  the  assault. 

Yes,  a  mighty  change  had  come  over  the  fish.  All  alive  to 
his  jeopardy,  he  was  going  "  head  out ;"  that  part  obliquely  pro- 
jecting from  the  mad  yeast  which  he  brewed.* 

"  Start  her,  start  her,  my  men !  Don't  hurry  yourselves ;  take 
plenty  of  time — but  start  her ;  start  her  like  thunder-claps,  that's 
all,"  cried  Stubb,  spluttering  out  the  smoke  as  he  spoke.  "  Start 
her,  now;  give  'em  the  long  and  strong  stroke,  Tashtego. 
Start  her,  Tash,  my  boy — start  her,  all ;  but  keep  cool,  keep 
cool — cucumbers  is  the  word — easy,  easy — only  start  her  like 
grim  death  and  grinning  devils,  and  raise  the  buried  dead  per- 
pendicular out  of  their  graves,  boys — that's  all.     Start  her !" 

*  It  will  be  seen  in  some  other  place  of  what  a  very  light  substance 
the  entire  interior  of  the  sperm  whale's  enormous  head  consists.  Though 
apparently  the  most  massive,  it  is  by  far  the  most  buoyant  part  about 
him.  So  that  with  ease  he  elevates  it  in  the  air,  and  invariably  does  so 
when  going  at  his  utmost  speed.  Besides,  such  is  the  breadth  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  front  of  his  head,  and  such  the  tapering  cut-water  for- 
mation of  the  lower  part,  that  by  obliquely  elevating  his  head,  he  thereby 
may  be  said  to  transform  himself  from  a  bluff-bowed  sluggish  galliot  into 
a  sharp-pointed  New  York  pilot-boat. 


318  STUBB    KILLS    A    WHALE. 

"  Woo-hoo  !  Wa-hee !"  screamed  the  Gay-Header  in  reply, 
raising  some  old  war-whoop  to  the  skies ;  as  every  oarsman  in 
the  strained  boat  involuntarily  bounced  forward  with  the  one 
tremendous  leading  stroke  which  the  eager  Indian  gave. 

But  his  wild  screams  were  answered  by  others  quite  as  wild. 
"  Kee-hee !  Kee-hee  !''  yelled  Daggoo,  straining  forwards  and 
backwards  on  his  seat,  like  a  pacing  tiger  in  his  cage. 

"  Ka-la !  Koo-loo  !"  howled  Queequeg,  as  if  smacking  his 
lips  over  a  mouthful  of  Grenadier's  steak.  And  thus  with  oars 
and  yells  the  keels  cut  the  sea.  Meanwhile,  Stubb  retaining  his 
place  in  the  van,  still  encouraged  his  men  to  the  onset,  all'  the 
while  puffing  the  smoke  from  his  mouth.  Like  desperadoes  they 
tugged  and  they  strained,  till  the  welcome  cry  was  heard — 
"  Stand  up,  Tashtego ! — give  it  to  him !"  The  harpoon  was 
hurled.  "  Stern  all !"  The  oarsmen  backed  water ;  the  same 
moment  something  went  hot  and  hissing  along  every  one  of  their 
wrists.  It  was  the  magical  line.  An  instant  before,  Stubb  had 
swiftly  caught  two  additional  turns  with  it  round  the  logger- 
head, whence,  by  reason  of  its  increased  rapid  circlings,  a 
hempen  blue  smoke  now  jetted  up  and  mingled  with  the  steady 
fumes  from  his  pipe.  As  the  line  passed  round  and  round  the 
loggerhead ;  so  also,  just  before  reaching  that  point,  it  blister- 
ingly  passed  through  and  through  both  of  Stubb's  bands,  from 
which  the  hand-cloths,  or  squares  of  quilted  canvas  sometimes 
worn  at  these  times,  had  accidentally  dropped.  It  was  like 
holding  an  enemy's  sharp  two-edged  sword  by  the  blade,  and 
that  enemy  all  the  time  striving  to  wrest  it  out  of  your  clutch. 

"  Wet  the  line !  wet  the  line !"  cried  Stubb  to  the  tub  oars- 
man (him  seated  by  the  tub)  who,  snatching  off  his  hat, 
dashed  the  sea-water  into  it.*     More  turns  were  taken,  so  that 

*  Partly  to  show  the  indispensableness  of  this  act,  it  may  here  be 
stated,  that,  in  the  old  Dutch  fishery,  a  mop  was  used  to  dash  the  running 
line  with  water ;  in  many  other  ships,  a  wooden  piggin,  or  bailer,  is  set 
apart  for  that  purpose.     Your  hat,  however,  is  the  most  convenient. 


STUBB    KILLS    A   WHALE.  319 

the  line  began  holding  its  place.  The  boat  now  flew  through 
the  boiling  water  like  a  shark  all  fins.  Stubb  and  Tashtego  here 
changed  places — stem  for  stern — a  staggering  business  truly  in 
that  rocking  commotion. 

From  the  vibrating  line  extending  the  entire  length  of  the 
upper  part  of  the  boat,  and  from  its  now  being  more  tight  than 
a  harpstring,  you  would  have  thought  the  craft  had  two  keels — 
one  cleaving  the  water,  the  other  the  air — as  the  boat  churned 
on  through  both  opposing  elements  at  once.  A  continual  cas- 
cade played  at  the  bows ;  a  ceaseless  whirling  eddy  in  her  wake  ; 
and,  at  the  slightest  motion  from  within,  even  but  of  a  little 
finger,  the  vibrating,  cracking  craft  canted  over  her  spasmodic 
gunwale  into  the  sea.  Thus  they  rushed  ;  each  man  with 
might  and  main  clinging  to  his  seat,  to  prevent  being  tossed  to 
the  foam  ;  and  the  tall  form  of  Tashtego  at  the  steering  oar 
crouching  almost  double,  in  order  to  bring  down  his  centre  of 
gravity.  Whole  Atlantics  and  Pacifies  seemed  passed  as  they 
shot  on  their  way,  till  at  length  the  whale  somewhat  slackened 
his  flight. 

"  Haul  in — haul  in  ! "  cried  Stubb  to  the  bowsman !  and, 
facing  round  towards  the  whale,  all  hands  began  pulling  the 
boat  up  to  him,  while  yet  the  boat  was  being  towed  on.  Soon 
ranging  up  by  his  flank,  Stubb,  firmly  planting  his  knee  in  the 
clumsy  cleat,  darted  dart  after  dart  into  the  flying  fish;  at 
the  word  of  command,  the  boat  alternately  sterning  out  of 
the  way  of  the  whale's  horrible  wallow,  and  then  ranging  up 
for  another  fling. 

The  red  tide  now  poured  from  all  sides  of  the  monster  like 
brooks  down  a  hill.  His  tormented  body  rolled  not  in  brine 
but  in  blood,  which  bubbled  and  seethed  for  furlongs  behind  in 
their  wake.  The  slanting  sun  playing  upon  this  crimson  pond 
in  the  sea,  sent  back  its  reflection  into  every  face,  so  that  they 
all  glowed  to  each  other  like  red  men.  And  all  the  while,  jet 
after  jet  of  white  smoke  was  agonizingly  shot  from  the  spiracle 


320  STUBB    KILLS    A    WHALE. 

of  the  whale,  and  vehement  puff  after  puff  from  the  mouth  of 
the  excited  headsman ;  as  at  every  dart,  hauling  in  upon  his 
crooked  lance  (by  the  line  attached  to  it),  Stubb  straightened  it 
again  and  again,  by  a  few  rapid  blows  against  the  gunwale,  then 
again  and  again  sent  it  into  the  whale. 

"  Pull  up — pull  up  ! "  he  now  cried  to  the  bowsman,  as  the 
waning  whale  relaxed  in  his  wrath.  "  Pull  up  ! — close  to  !  ** 
and  the  boat  ranged  along  the  fish's  flank.  When  reaching  far 
over  the  bow,  Stubb  slowly  churned  his  long  sharp  lance  into  the 
fish,  and  kept  it  there,  carefully  churning  and  churning,  as  if 
cautiously  seeking  to  feel  after  some  gold  watch  that  the  whale 
might  have  swallowed,  and  which  he  was  fearful  of  breaking 
ere  he  could  hook  it  out.  But  that  gold  watch  he  sought  was 
the  innermost  life  of  the  fish.  And  now  it  is  struck  ;  for,  start- 
ing from  his  trance  into  that  unspeakable  thing  called  his 
"flurry,"  the  monster  horribly  wallowed  in  his  blood,  over- 
wrapped  himself  in  impenetrable,  mad,  boiling  spray,  so  that 
the  imperilled  craft,  instantly  dropping  astern,  had  much  ado 
blindly  to  struggle  out  from  that  phrensied  twilight  into  the 
clear  air  of  the  day. 

And  now  abating  in  his  flurry,  the  whale  once  more  rolled 
out  into  view ;  surging  from  side  to  side  ;  spasmodically  dilat- 
ing and  contracting  his  spout-hole,  with  sharp,  cracking,  ago- 
nized respirations.  At  last,  gush  after  gush  of  clotted  red  gore, 
as  if  it  had  been  the  purple  lees  of  red  wine,  shot  into  the 
frighted  air ;  and  falling  back  again,  ran  dripping  down  his 
motionless  flanks  into  the  sea.     His  heart  had  burst  I 

"  He's  dead,  Mr.  Stubb,"  said  Daggoo. 

"  Yes ;  both  pipes  smoked  out !"  and  withdrawing  his  own 
from  his  mouth,  Stubb  scattered  the  dead  ashes  over  the  water  ; 
and,  for  a  moment,  stood  thoughtfully  eyeing  the  vast  corpse  he 
had  made. 


THE    DART.  321 


CHAPTER  LXE. 

THE    DART. 

A  word  concerning  an  incident  in  the  last  chapter. 

According  to  the  invariable  usage  of  the  fishery,  the  whale- 
boat  pushes  off  from  the  ship,  with  the  headsman  or  whale- 
killer  as  temporary  steersman,  and  the  harpooneer  or  whale- 
fastener  pulling  the  foremost  oar,  the  one  known  as  the 
harpoon  eer-oar.  Now  it  needs  a  strong,  nervous  arm  to  strike 
the  first  iron  into  the  fish ;  for  often,  in  what  is  called  a  long 
dart,  the  heavy  implement  has  to  be  flung  to  the  distance  of 
twenty  or  thirty  feet.  But  however  prolonged  and  exhausting 
the  chase,  the  harpooneer  is  expected  to  pull  his  oar  meanwhile 
to  the  uttermost ;  indeed,  he  is  expected  to  set  an  example  of 
superhuman  activity  to  the  rest,  not  only  by  incredible  rowing, 
but  by  repeated  loud  and  intrepid  exclamations  ;  and  what  it  is 
to  keep  shouting  at  the  top  of  one's  compass,  while  all  the  other 
muscles  are  strained  and  half  started — what  that  is  none 
know  but  those  who  have  tried  it.  For  one,  I  cannot  bawl 
very  heartily  and  work  very  recklessly  at  one  and  the  same 
time.  In  this  straining,  bawling  state,  then,  with  his  back  to 
the  fish,  all  at  once  the  exhausted  harpooneer  hears  the  exciting 
cry — "  Stand  up,  and  give  it  to  him  !''  He  now  has  to  drop 
and  secure  his  oar,  turn  round  on  his  centre  half  way,  seize  his 
harpoon  from  the  crotch,  and  with  what  little  strength  may 
remain,  he  essays  to  pitch  it  somehow  into  the  whale.  No 
wonder,  taking  the  whole  fleet  of  whalemen  in  a  body,  that  out 
of  fifty  fair  chances  for  a  dart,  not  five  are  successful ;  no  wonder 
that,  so  many  hapless  harpooneers  are  madly  cursed  and  dis- 
rated ;  no  wonder  that  some  of  them  actually  burst  their  blood- 

14* 


322  THE    CROTCH. 


vessels  in  the  boat ;  no  wonder  that  some  sperm  whalemen  are 
absent  four  years  with  four  barrels ;  no  wonder  that  to  many- 
ship  owners,  whaling  is  but  a  losing  concern ;  for  it  is  the 
harpooneer  that  makes  the  voyage,  and  if  you  take  the  breath 
out  of  his  body  how  can  you  expect  to  find  it  there  when  most 
wanted ! 

Again,  if  the  dart  be  successful,  then  at  the  second  critical 
instant,  that  is,  when  the  whale  starts  to  run,  the  boat-header 
and  harpooneer  likewise  start  to  running  fore  and  aft,  to  the  im- 
minent jeopardy  of  themselves  and  every  one  else.  It  is  then 
they  change  places ;  and  the  headsman,  the  chief  officer  of  the 
little  craft,  takes  his  proper  station  in  the  bows  of  the  boat. 

Now,  I  care  not  who  maintains  the  contrary,  but  all  this  is 
both  foolish  and  unnecessary.  The  headsman  should  stay  in 
the  bows  from  first  to  last ;  he  should  both  dart  the  harpoon 
and  the  lance,  and  no  rowing  whatever  should  be  expected  of 
him,  except  under  circumstances  obvious  to  any  fisherman.  I 
know  that  this  would  sometimes  involve  a  slight  loss  of  speed  in 
the  chase ;  but  long  experience  in  various  whalemen  of  more 
than  one  nation  has  convinced  me  that  in  the  vast  majority  of 
failures  in  the  fishery,  it  has  not  by  any  means  been  so  much 
the  speed  of  the  whale  as  the  before  described  exhaustion  of  the 
harpooneer  that  has  caused  them. 

To  insure  the  greatest  efficiency  in  the  dart,  the  harpooneers 
of  this  world  must  start  to  their  feet  from  out  of  idleness,  and 
not  from  out  of  toil. 


CHAPTER  LXIII. 

THE    CROTCH. 


Out  of  the  trunk,  the  branches  grow ;   out  of  them,  the 
twigs.     So,  in  productive  subjects,  grow  the  chapters. 


THE    CROTCH.  323 


The  crotch  alluded  to  on  a  previous  page  deserves  inde- 
pendent mention.  It  is  a  notched  stick  of  a  peculiar  form,  some 
two  feet  in  length,  which  is  perpendicularly  inserted  into  the 
starboard  gunwale  near  the  bow,  for  the  purpose  of  furnishing  a 
rest  for  the  wooden  extremity  of  the  harpoon,  whose  other 
naked,  barbed  end  slopingly  projects  from  the  prow.  Thereby 
the  weapon  is  instantly  at  hand  to  its  hurler,  who  snatches  it  up 
as  readily  from  its  rest  as  a  backwoodsman  swings  his  rifle  from 
the  wall.  It  is  customary  to  "have  two  harpoons  reposing  in  the 
crotch,  respectively  called  the  first  and  second  irons. 

But  these  two  harpoons,  each  by  its  own  cord,  are  both  con- 
nected with  the  line ;  the  object  being  this  :  to  dart  them  both, 
if  possible,  one  instantly  after  the  other  into  the  same  whale ; 
so  that  if,  in  the  coming  drag,  one  should  draw  out,  the  other 
may  still  retain  a  hold.  It  is  a  doubling  of  the  chances.  But 
it  very  often  happens  that  owing  to  the  instantaneous,  violent, 
convulsive  running  tof  the  whale  upon  receiving  the  first  iron,  it 
becomes  impossible  for  the  harpooneer,  however  lightning-like  in 
his  movements,  to  pitch  the  second  iron  into  him.  Nevertheless, 
as  the  second  iron  is  already  connected  with  the  line,  and  the  line 
is  running,  hence  that  weapon  must,  at  all  events,  be  antici- 
patingly  tossed  out  of  the  boat,  somehow  and  somewhere ;  else 
the  most  terrible  jeopardy  would  involve  all  hands.  Tumbled 
into  the  water,  it  accordingly  is  in  such  cases  ;  the  spare  coils  of 
box  line  (mentioned  in  a  preceding  chapter)  making  this  feat,  in 
most  instances,  prudently  practicable.  But  this  critical  act  is 
not  always  unattended  with  the  saddest  and  most  fatal  casual- 
ties. 

Furthermore :  you  must  know  that  when  the  second  iron  is 
thrown  overboard,  it  thenceforth  becomes  a  dangling,  sharp- 
edged  terror,  skittishly  curvetting  about  both  boat  and  whale, 
-entangling  the  lines,  or  cutting  them,  and  making  a  prodigious 
sensation  in  all  directions.  Nor,  in  general,  is  it  possible  to 
secure  it  agam  until  the  whale  is  fairly  captured  and  a  corpse. 


324  STUBB'S    SUPPER. 

Consider,  now,  how  it  must  be  in  the  case  of  four  boats  all 
engaging  one  unusually  strong,  active,  and  knowing  whale ; 
when  owing  to  these  qualities  in  him,  as  well  as  to  the  thousand 
concurring  accidents  of  such  an  audacious  enterprise,  eight  or  ten 
loose  second  irons  may  be  simultaneously  dangling  about  him. 
For,  of  course,  each  boat  is  supplied  with  several  harpoons  to  bend 
on  to  the  line  should  the  first  one  be  ineffectually  darted  with- 
out recovery.  All  these  particulars  are  faithfully  narrated  here, 
as  they  will  not  fail  to  elucidate  several  most  important,  how- 
ever intricate  passages,  in  scenes  hereafter  to  be  painted. 


CHAPTER  LXIV. 

stubb's  supper. 

Stubb's  whale  had  been  killed  some  distance  from  the  ship. 
It  was  a  calm ;  so,  forming  a  tandem  of  three  boats,  we  com- 
menced the  slow  business  of  towing  the  trophy  to  the  Pequod. 
And  now,  as  we  eighteen  men  with  our  thirty-six  arms,  and  one 
hundred  and  eighty  thumbs  and  fingers,  slowly  toiled  hour  after 
hour  upon  that  inert,  sluggish  corpse  in  the  sea ;  and  it  seemed 
hardly  to  budge  at  all,  except  at  long  intervals ;  good  evidence 
was  hereby  furnished  of  the  enormousness  of  the  mass  we 
moved.  For,  upon  the  great  canal  of  Hang-Ho,  or  whatever 
they  call  it,  in  China,  four  or  five  laborers  on  the  foot-path  will 
draw  a  bulky  freighted  junk  at  the  rate  of  a  mile  an  hour ;  but 
this  grand  argosy  we  towed  heavily  forged  along,  as  if  laden 
with  pig-lead  in  bulk. 

Darkness  came  on  ;  but  three  lights  up  and  down  in  the  Pe- 
quod's  main-rigging  dimly  guided  our  way ;  till  drawing  nearer 
we  saw  Ahab  dropping  one  of  several  more  lanterns  over  the 
bulwarks.  Vacantly  eyeing  the  heaving  whale  for  a  moment, 
he  issued  the  usual  orders  for  securing  it  for  the  night,  and  then 


STUB B'S    SUPPER.  325 

handing  his  lantern  to  a  seaman,  went  his  way  into  the  cahin, 
and  did  not  come  forward  again  until  morning. 

Though,  in  overseeing  the  pursuit  of  this  whale,  Captain  Ahab 
had  evinced  his  customary  activity,  to  call  it  so  ;  yet  now  that 
the  creature  was  dead,  some  vague  dissatisfaction,  or  impatience, 
or  despair,  seemed  working  in  him ;  as  if  the  sight  of  that  dead 
body  reminded  him  that  Moby  Dick  was  yet  to  be  slain  ;  and 
though  a  thousand  other  whales  were  brought  to  his  ship,  all 
that  would  not  one  jot  advance  his  grand,  monomaniac  object. 
Very  soon  you  would  have  thought  from  the  sound  on  the 
Pequod's  decks,  that  all  hands  were  preparing  to  cast  anchor  in 
the  deep  ;  for  heavy  chains  are  being  dragged  along  the  deck, 
and  thrust  rattling  out  of  the  port-holes.  But  by  those  clank 
ing  links,  the  vast  corpse  itself,  not  the  ship,  is  to  be  moored. 
Tied  by  the  head  to  the  stern,  and  by  the  tail  to  the  bows,  the 
whale  now  lies  with  its  black  hull  close  to  the  vessel's,  and  seen 
through  the  darkness  of  the  night,  which  obscured  the  spars 
and  rigging  aloft,  the  two — ship  and  whale,  seemed  yoked 
together  like  colossal  bullocks,  whereof  one  reclines  while  the 
other  remains  standing.* 

If  moody  Ahab  was  now  all  quiescence,  at  least  so  far  as 
could  be  known  on  deck,  Stubb,  his  second  mate,  flushed  with 

*A  little  item  may  as  well  be  related  here.  The  strongest  and  most 
reliable  hold  which  the  ship  has  upon  the  whale  when  moored  alongside, 
is  by  the  flukes  or  tail ;  and  as  from  its  greater  density  that  part  is  rela- 
tively heavier  than  any  other  (excepting  the  side-fins),  its  flexibility  even 
in  death,  causes  it  to  sink  low  beneath  the  surface  ;  so  that  with  the  hand 
you  cannot  get  at  it  from  the  boat,  in  order  to  put  the  chain  round  it. 
But  this  difficulty  is  ingeniously  overcome  :  a  small,  strong  line  is  pre- 
pared with  a  wooden  float  at  its  outer  end,  and  a  weight  in  its  middle, 
while  the  other  end  is  secured  to  the  ship.  By  adroit  management  the 
wooden  float  is  made  to  rise  on  the  other  side  of  the  mass,  so  that  now 
having  girdled  the  whale,  the  chain  is  readily  made  to  follow  suit ;  and 
being  slipped  along  the  body,  is  at  last  locked  fast  round  the  smallest 
part  of  the  tail,  at  the  point  of  junction  with  its  broad  flukes  or  lobes. 


326  STUBB'S    SUPPER. 

conquest,  betrayed  an  unusual  but  still  good-natured  excite- 
ment. Such  an  unwonted  bustle  was  he  in  that  the  staid  Star- 
buck,  his  official  superior,  quietly  resigned  to  him  for  the  timo 
the  sole  management  of  affairs.  One  small,  helping  cause  of 
all  this  liveliness  in  Stubb,  was  soon  made  strangely  manifest. 
Stubb  was  a  high  liver ;  he  was  somewhat  intemperately  fond 
of  the  whale  as  a  fiavorish  thing  to  his  palate. 

"  A  steak,  a  steak,  ere  I  sleep  !  You,  Daggoo  !  overboard 
you  go,  and  cut  me  one  from  his  small !" 

Here  be  it  known,  that  though  these  wild  fishermen  do  not, 
as  a  general  thing,  and  according  to  the  great  military  maxim, 
make  the  enemy  defray  the  current  expenses  of  the  war  (at 
least  before  realizing  the  proceeds  of  the  voyage),  yet  now  and 
then  you  find  some  of  these  Nantucketers  who  have  a  genuine 
relish  for  that  particular  part  of  the  Sperm  Whale  desig- 
nated by  Stubb ;  comprising  the  tapering  extremity  of  the 
body. 

About  midnight  that  steak  was  cut  and  cooked  ;  and  lighted 
by  two  lanterns  of  sperm  oil,  Stubb  stoutly  stood  up  to  his  sper- 
maceti supper  at  the  capstan-head,  as  if  that  capstan  were  a 
sideboard.  Nor  was  Stubb  the  only  banqueter  on  whale's 
flesh  that  night.  Mingling  their  mumblings  with  his  own  mas- 
tications, thousands  on  thousands  of  sharks,  swarming  round 
the  dead  leviathan,  smackingly  feasted  on  its  fatness.  The 
few  sleepers  below  in  their  bunks  were  often  startled  by  the 
sharp  slapping  of  their  tails  against  the  hull,  within  a  few  inches 
of  the  sleepers'  hearts.  Peering  over  the  side  you  could  just 
see  them  (as  before  you  heard  them)  wallowing  in  the  sullen, 
black  waters,  and  turning  over  on  their  backs  as  they  scooped 
out  huge  globular  pieces  of  the  whale  of  the  bigness  of  a  human 
head.  This  particular  feat  of  the  shark  seems  all  but  miracu- 
lous. How,  at  such  an  apparently  unassailable  surface,  they 
contrive  to  gouge  out  such  symmetrical  mouthfuls,  remains  a 
part  of  the  universal  problem  of  all  things.     The  mark  they 


STUBB'S    SUPPER.  327 

thus  leave  on  the  whale,  may  best  be  likened  to  the  hollow 
made  by  a  carpenter  in  countersinking  for  a  screw. 

Though  amid  all  the  smoking  horror  and  diabolism  of  a  sea- 
fight,  sharks  will  be  seen  longingly  gazing  up  to  the  ship's 
decks,  like  hungry  dogs  round  a  table  where  red  meat  is  being 
carved,  ready  to  bolt  down  every  killed  man  that  is  tossed  to 
them ;  and  though,  while  the  valiant  butchers  over  the  deck- 
table  are  thus  cannibally  carving  each  other's  live  meat  with 
carving-knives  all  gilded  and  tasselled,  the  sharks,  also,  with 
their  jewel-hilted  mouths,  are  quarrelsomely  carving  away  under 
the  table  at  the  dead  meat ;  and  though,  were  you  to  turn  the 
whole  affair  upside  down,  it  would  still  be  pretty  much  the  same 
thing,  that  is  to  say,  a  shocking  sharkish  business  enough  for 
all  parties ;  and  though  sharks  also  are  the  invariable  outriders 
of  all  slave  ships  crossing  the  Atlantic,  systematically  trotting 
alongside,  to  be  handy  in  case  a  parcel  is  to  be  carried  anywhere, 
or  a  dead  slave  to  be  decently  buried ;  and  though  one  or  two 
other  like  instances  might  be  set  down,  touching  the  set  terms, 
places,  and  occasions,  when  sharks  do  most  socially  congregate, 
and  most  hilariously  feast ;  yet  is  there  no  conceivable  time  or 
occasion  when  you  will  find  them  in  such  countless  numbers,  and 
in  gayer  or  more  jovial  spirits,  than  around  a  dead  sperm  whale, 
moored  by  night  to  a  whale-ship  at  sea.  If  you  have  never 
seen  that  sight,  then  suspend  your  decision  about  the  propriety 
of  devil-worship,  and  the  expediency  of  conciliating  the  devil. 

But,  as  yet,  Stubb  heeded  not  the  mumblings  of  the  banquet 
that  was  going  on  so  nigh  him,  no  more  than  the  sharks  heeded 
the  smacking  of  his  own  epicurean  lips. 

"  Cook,  cook ! — where's  that  old  Fleece  ?"  he  cried  at  length, 
widening  his  legs  still  further,  as  if  to  form  a  more  secure  base 
for  his  supper ;  and,  at  the  same  time  darting  his  fork  into  the 
dish,  as  if  stabbing  with  his  lance  ;  "  cook,  you  cook  ! — sail  this 
way,  cook !" 

The  old  black,  not  in  any  very  high  glee  at  having  been  pre- 


328  STUBB'S    SUPPER. 

viously  roused  from  his  warm  hammock  at  a  most  unseasonable 
hour,  came  shambling  along  from  his  galley,  for,  like  many  old 
blacks,  there  was  something  the  matter  with  his  knee-pans, 
which  he  did  not  keep  well  scoured  like  his  other  pans ;  this  old 
Fleece,  as  they  called  him,  came  shuffling  and  limping  along, 
assisting  his  step  with  his  tongs,  which,  after  a  clumsy  fashion, 
were  made  of  straightened  iron  hoops ;  this  old  Ebony  floun- 
dered along,  and  in  obedience  to  the  word  of  command,  came 
to  a  dead  stop  on  the  opposite  side  of  Stubb's  sideboard  ;  when, 
with  both  hands  folded  before  him,  and  resting  on  his  two-legged 
cane,  he  bowed  his  arched  back  still  further  over,  at  the  same 
time  sideways  inclining  his  head,  so  as  to  bring  his  best  ear  into 
play. 

"  Cook,"  said  Stubb,  rapidly  lifting  a  rather  reddish  morsel  to 
his  mouth,  "  don't  you  think  this  steak  is  rather  overdone  ? 
You've  been  beating  this  steak  too  much,  cook ;  it's  too  tender. 
Don't  I  always  say  that  to  be  good,  a  whale-steak  must  be 
tough  ?  There  are  those  sharks  now  over  the  side,  don't  you 
see  they  prefer  it  tough  and  rare  ?  What  a  shindy  they  are 
kicking  up !  Cook,  go  and  talk  to  'em ;  tell  'em  they  ai-e  wel- 
come to  help  themselves  civilly,  and  in  moderation,  but  they 
must  keep  quiet.  Blast  me,  if  I  can  hear  my  own  voice.  Away, 
cook,  and  deliver  my  message.  Here,  take  this  lantern,"  snatch- 
ing one  from  his  sideboard;  "now  then,  go  and  preach  to 
'em !" 

Sullenly  taking  the  offered  lantern,  old  Fleece  limped  across 
the  deck  to  the  bulwarks ;  and  then,  with  one  hand  dropping 
his  light  low  over  the  sea,  so  as  to  get  a  good  view  of  his  con- 
gregation, with  the  other  hand  he  solemnly  flourished  his  tongs, 
and  leaning  far  over  the  side  in  a  mumbling  voice  began  ad- 
dressing the  sharks,  while  Stubb,  softly  crawling  behind,  over- 
heard all  that  was  said. 

"  Fellow-critters :  I'se  ordered  here  to  say  dat  you  must  stop 
dat  dam  noise  dare.     You  hear  ?     Stop  dat  dam  smackin'  ob 


STUBB'S    SUPPER.  329 

de  lip  !  Massa  Stubb  say  dat  you  can  fill  your  dam  bellies  up 
to  de  hatchings,  but  by  Gor !  you  must  stop  dat  dam  racket !" 

"  Cook,"  here  interposed  Stubb,  accompanying  the  word  with 
a  sudden  slap  on  the  shoulder, — "  Cook  !  why,  damn  your  eyes, 
you  mustn't  swear  that  way  when  you're  preaching.  That's  no 
way  to  convert  sinners,  Cook !" 

"  Who  dat  ?  Den  preach  to  him  yourself"  sullenly  turning 
to  go. 

"  No,  Cook ;  go  on,  go  on." 

"  Well,  den,  Belubed  fellow-critters : " — 

"  Right !"  exclaimed  Stubb,  approvingly,  "  coax  'em  to  it ; 
try  that,"  and  Fleece  continued. 

"  Do  you  is  all  sharks,  and  by  natur  wery  woracious,  yet  I 
zay  to  you,  fellow-critters,  dat  dat  woraciousness— 'top  dat  dam 
slappin'  ob  de  tail !  How  you  tink  to  hear,  'spose  you  keep  up 
such  a  dam  slappin'  and  bitin'  dare  ?" 

"  Cook,"  cried  Stubb,  collaring  him,  "  I  wont  have  that  swear- 
ing.    Talk  to  'em  gentlemanly." 

Once  more  the  sermon  proceeded. 

"Your  woraciousness,  fellow-critters,  I  don't  blame  ye  so 
much  for ;  dat  is  natur,  and  can't  be  helped ;  but  to  gobern  dat 
wicked  natur,  dat  is  de  pint.  You  is  sharks,  sartin ;  but  if  you 
gobern  de  shark  in  you,  why  den  you  be  angel ;  for  all  angel  is 
not'ing  more  dan  de  shark  well  goberned.  JSTow,  look  here, 
bred'ren,  just  try  wonst  to  be  cibil,  a  helping  yoursebls  from 
dat  whale.  Don't  be  tearin'  de  blubber  out  your  neigh- 
bour's mout,  I  say.  Is  not  one  shark  dood  right  as  todev 
to  dat  whale?  And,  by  Gor,  none  on  you  has  de  right 
to  dat  whale;  dat  whale  belong. to  some  one  else.  I  know 
some  o'  you  has  berry  brig  mout,  brigger  dan  oders ;  but  den 
de  brig  mouts  sometimes  has  de  small  bellies  ;  so  dat  de  brig- 
ness  ob  de  mout  is  not  to  swallar  wid,  but  to  bite  off  de  blubber 
for  de  small  fry  ob  sharks,  dat  can't  get  into  de  scrouge  to  help 
demselves." 


330  STUBB'S    SUPPER. 

"Well  done,  old  Fleece!"  cried  Stubb,  "that's  Christianity; 
go  on." 

"  No  use  goin'  on ;  de  dam  willains  will  keep  a  scrougin'  and 
slappin'  each  oder,  Massa  Stubb ;  dey  don't  hear  one  word  ;  no 
use  a-preachin'  to  such  dam  g'uttons  as  you  call  'em,  till  dare 
bellies  is  full,  and  dare  bellies  is  bottomless ;  and  when  dey  do 
get  em  full,  dey  wont  hear  you  den  ;  for  den  dey  sink  in  de  sea, 
go  fast  to  sleep  on  de  coral,  and  can't  hear  not'ing  at  all,  no  more, 
for  eber  and  eber." 

"  Upon  my  soul,  I  am  about  of  the  same  opinion ;  so  give 
the  benediction,  Fleece,  and  I'll  away  to  my  supper." 

Upon  this,  Fleece,  holding  both  hands  over  the  fishy  mob, 
raised  his  shrill  voice,  and  cried — 

"  Cussed  fellow-critters !  Kick  up  de  damndest  row  as  ever 
you  can ;   fill  your  dam'  bellies  'till  dey  bust — and  den  die." 

"  Now,  cook,"  said  Stubb,  resuming  his  supper  at  the  capstan ; 
"  Stand  just  where  you  stood  before,  there,  over  against  me,  and 
pay  particular  attention." 

"All  dention,"  said  Fleece,  again  stooping  over  upon  his 
tongs  in  the  desired  position. 

"  Well,"  said  Stubb,  helping  himself  freely  meanwhile ;  "  I 
shall  now  go  back  to  the  subject  of  this  steak.  In  the  first 
place,  how  old  are  you,  cook  ? " 

"  What  dat  do  wid  de  'teak,"  said  the  old  black,  testily. 

"  Silence  !     How  old  are  you,  cook  ? " 

"  'Bout  ninety,  dey  say,"  he  gloomily  muttered. 

"  And  have  you  lived  in  this  world  hard  upon  one  hundred 
years,  cook,  and  don't  know  yet  how  to  cook  a  whale-steak  ? " 
rapidly  bolting  another  mouthful  at  the  last  word,  so  that  that 
morsel  seemed  a  continuation  of  the  question.  "  Where  were 
you  born,  cook  ?  " 

"'Hind  de  hatchway,  in  ferry-boat,  goin'  ober  de  Roanoke.'' 

"Born  in  a  ferry-boat!  That's  queer,  too.  But  I  want  to 
know  what  country  you  were  born  in,  cook  ?" 


STUBB'S    SUPPER.  331 

"  Didn't  I  say  de  Eoanoke  country  ? "  he  cried,  sharply. 

"  No,  you  didn't,  cook  ;  but  I'll  tell  you  what  I'm  coming  to, 
cook.  You  must  go  home  and  be  born  over  again  ;  you  don't 
know  how  to  cook  a  whale-steak  yet." 

"  Bress  my  soul,  if  I  cook  noder  one,"  he  growled,  angrily, 
turning  round  to  depart. 

"  Come  back,  cook  ; — here,  hand  me  those  tongs ; — now  take 
that  bit  of  steak  there,  and  tell  me  if  you  think  that  steak 
cooked  as  it  should  be  ?  Take  it,  I  say" — holding  the  tongs 
towards  him — "  take  it,  and  taste  it." 

Faintly  smacking  his  withered  lips  over  it  for  a  moment,  the 
old  negro  muttered,  "  Best  cooked  'teak  I  eber  taste ;  joosy, 
berry  joosy." 

"  Cook,"  said  Stubb,  squaring  himself  once  more  ;  "  do  you 
belong  to  the  church  ? " 

"Passed  one  once  in  Cape-Down,"  said  the  old  man  sul- 
lenly. 

"  And  you  have  once  in  your  life  passed  a  holy  church  in 
Cape-Town,  where  you  doubtless  overheard  a  holy  parson 
addressing  his  hearers  as  his  beloved  fellow-creatures,  have  you, 
cook !  And  yet  you  come  here,  and  tell  me  such  a  dreadful 
lie  as  you  did  just  now,  eh  ?"  said  Stubb.  "  Where  do  you 
expect  to  go  to,  cook  ? " 

"  Go  to  bed  berry  soon,"  he  mumbled,,  half-turning  as  he 
spoke. 

"  Avast !  heave  to !  I  mean  when  you  die,  cook.  It's  an 
awful  question.     Now  what's  your  answer  ? " 

"When  dis  old  brack  man  dies,"  said  the  negro  slowly, 
changing  his  whole  air  and  demeanor,  "he  hisself  won't  go 
nowhere  ;  but  some  bressed  angel  will  come  and  fetch  him." 

"  Fetch  him  ?  How  ?  In  a  coach  and  four,  as  they  fetched 
Elijah  ?     And  fetch  him  where  ?" 

"  Up  dere,"  said  Fleece,  holding  his  tongs  straight  over  his 
head,  and  keeping  It  there  very  solemnly. 


332  STUBB'S    SUPPER. 

"  So,  then,  you  expect  to  go  up  into  our  main-top,  do  you, 
cook,  when  you  are  dead  ?  But  don't  you  know  the  higher 
you  climb,  the  colder  it  gets  ?     Main-top  eh  ? " 

"  Didn't  say  dat  t'all,"  said  Fleece,  again  in  the  sulks. 

"  You  said  up  there,  didn't  you  ?  and  now  look  yourself,  and 
see  where  your  tongs  are  pointing.  But,  perhaps  you  expect 
to  get  into  heaven  by  crawling  through  the  lubber's  hole, 
cook ;  but,  no,  no,  cook,  you  don't  get  there,  except  you  go  the 
regular  way,  round  by  the  rigging.  It's  a  ticklish  business,  but 
must  be  done,  or  else  it's  no  go.  But  none  of  us  are  in 
heaven  yet.  Drop  your  tongs,  cook,  and  hear  my  orders.  Do 
ye  hear  ?  Hold  your  hat  in  one  hand,  and  clap  t'other  a'top 
of  your  heart,  when  I'm  giving  my  orders,  cook.  What !  that 
your  heart,  there  ? — that's  your  gizzard !  Aloft !  aloft ! — that's 
it — now  you  have  it.     Hold  it  there  now,  and  pay  attention." 

"All  'dention,"  said  the  old  black,  with  both  hands  placed  as 
desired,  vainly  wriggling  his  grizzled  head,  as  if  to  get  both 
ears  in  front  at  one  and  the  same  time. 

"Well. then,  cook,  you  see  this  whale-steak  of  yours  was  so 
very  bad,  that  I  have  put  it  out  of  sight  as  soon  as  possible ; 
you  see  that,  don't  you  ?  Well,  for  the  future,  when  you  cook 
another  whale-steak  for  my  private  table  here,  the  capstan, 
I'll  tell  you  what  to  do  so  as  not  to  spoil  it  by  overdoing.  Hold 
the  steak  in  one  hand,  and  show  a  live  coal  to  it  with  the  other ; 
that  done,  dish  it ;  d'ye  •  hear  ?  And  now  to-morrow,  cook, 
when  we  are  cutting  in  the  fish,  be  sure  you  stand  by  to  get  the 
tips  of  his  fins  ;  have  them  put  in  pickle.  As  for  the  ends  of 
the  flukes,  have  them  soused,  cook.     There,  now  ye  may  go." 

But  Fleece  had  hardly  got  three  paces  off",  when  he  was 
recalled. 

"  Cook,  give  me  cutlets  for  supper  to-morrow  night  in  the 
mid- watch.  D'ye  hear?  away  you  sail,  then. — Halloa!  stop! 
make  a  bow  before  you  go. — Avast  heaving  again !  Whale- 
balls  for  breakfast — don't  forget." 

i 


THE    WHALE    AS    A    DISH.  333 

"  Wish,  by  gov  !  whale  eat  him,  'stead  of  him  eat  whale.  I'm 
bressed  if  he  ain't  more  of  shark  dan  Massa  Shark  hisself," 
muttered  the  old  man,  limping  away ;  with  which  sage  ejacu- 
lation he  went  to  his  hammock. 


CHAPTER  LXV. 

THE   WHALE    AS    A   DISH. 

That  mortal  man  should  feed  upon  the  creature  that  feeds 
his  lamp,  and,  like  Stubb,  eat  him  by  his  own  light,  as  you  may 
say ;  this  seems  so  outlandish  a  thing  that  one  must  needs  go 
a  little  into  the  history  and  philosophy  of  it. 

It  is  upon  record,  that  three  centuries  ago  the  tongue  of  the 
Eight  Whale  was  esteemed  a  great  delicacy  in  France,  and 
commanded  large  prices  there.  Also,  that  in  Henry  VHIth's 
time,  a  certain  cook  of  the  court  obtained  a  handsome  reward 
for  inventing  an  admirable  sauce  to  be  eaten  with  barbacued 
porpoises,  which,  you  remember,  are  a  species  of  whale.  Por- 
poises, indeed,  are  to  this  day  considered  fine  eating.  The  meat 
is  made  into  balls  about  the  size  of  billiard  balls,  and  being 
well  seasoned  and  spiced  might  be  taken  for  turtle-balls  or 
veal  balls.  The  old  monks  of  Dunfermline  were  very  fond  of 
them.     They  had  a  great  porpoise  grant  from  the  crown. 

The  fact  is,  that  among  his  hunters  at  least,  the  whale  would 
by  all  hands  be  considered  a  noble  dish,  were  there  not  so  much 
of  him ;  but  when  you  come  to  sit  down  before  a  meat-pie 
nearly  one  hundred  feet  long,  it  takes  away  your  appetite.  Only 
the  most  unprejudiced  of  men  like  Stubb,  nowadays  partake  of 
cooked  whales ;  but  the  Esquimaux  are  not  so  fastidions.  We 
all  know  how  they  live  upon  whales,  and  have  rare  old  vintages 
of  prime  old  train  oil.     Zogranda,  one  of  their  most  famous 


334  THEWHALEASADISH. 

doctors,  recommends  strips  of  blubber  for  infants,  as  being  ex- 
ceedingly juicy  and  nourishing.  And  tbis  reminds  me  tbat 
certain  Englisbmen,  wbo  long  ago  were  accidentally  left  in 
Greenland  by  a  whaling  vessel — that  these  men  actually  lived 
for  several  months  on  the  mouldy  scraps  of  whales  which  had 
been  left  ashore  after  trying  out  the  blubber.  Among  the 
Dutch  whalemen  these  scraps  are  called  "  fritters ;"  which, 
indeed,  they  greatly  resemble,  being  brown  and  crisp,  and 
smelling  something  like  old  Amsterdam  housewives'  dough-nuts 
or  oly-cooks,  when  fresh.  They  have  such  an  eatable  look  that 
the  most  self-denying  stranger  can  hardly  keep  his  hands  off. 

But  what  further  depreciates  the  whale  as  a  civilized  dish,  is 
his  exceeding  richness.  He  is  the  great  prize  ox  of  the  sea,  too 
fat  to  be  delicately  good.  Look  at  his  hump,  which  would  be 
as  fine  eating  as  the  buffalo's  (which  is  esteemed  a  rare  dish), 
were  it  not  such  a  solid  pyramid  of  fat.  But  the  spermaceti 
itself,  how  bland  and  creamy  that  is ;  like  the  transparent,  half- 
jellied,  white  meat  of  a  cocoanut  in  the  third  month  of  its 
growth,  yet  far  too  rich  to  supply  a  substitute  for  butter.  Ne- 
vertheless, many  whalemen  have  a  method  of  absorbing  it  into 
some  other  substance,  and  then  partaking  of  it.  In  the  long 
try  watches  of  the  night  it  is  a  common  thing  for  the  seamen  to 
dip  their  ship-biscuit  into  the  huge  oil-pots  and  let  them  fry 
there  awhile.     Many  a  good  supper  have  I  thus  made. 

In  the  case  of  a  small  Sperm  Whale  the  brains  are  accounted 
a  fine  dish.  The  casket  of  the  skull  is  broken  into  with  an 
axe,  and  the  two  plump,  whitish  lobes  being  withdrawn  (pre- 
cisely resembling  two  large  puddings),  they  are  then  mixed  with 
flour,  and  cooked  into  a  most  delectable  mess,  in  flavor  some- 
what resembling  calves'  head,  which  is  quite  a  dish  among  some 
epicures ;  and  every  one  knows  that  some  young  bucks  among 
the  epicures,  by  continually  dining  upon  calves'  brains,  by  and 
by  get  to  have  a  little  brains  of  their  own,  so  as  to  be  able  to 
tell  a  calf 's  head  from  their  own  heads ;  which,  indeed,  requires 


THE    WHALE    AS    A    DISH.  335 

uncommon  discrimination.  And  that  is  the  reason  why  a  young 
buck  with  an  intelligent  looking  calf's  head  before  him,  is  some- 
how one  of  the  saddest  sights  you  can  see.  The  head  looks  a 
sort  of  reproachfully  at  him,  with  an  "  Et  tu  Brute !"  expression. 

It  is  not,  perhaps,  entirely  because  the  whale  is  so  excessively 
unctuous  that  landsmen  seem  to  regard  the  eating  of  him  with 
abhorrence  ;  that  appears  to  result,  in  some  way,  from  the  con- 
sideration before  mentioned  :  i.  e.  that  a  man  should  eat  a  newly 
murdered  thing  of  the  sea,  and  eat  it  too  by  its  own  light. 
But  no  doubt  the  first  man  that  ever  murdered  an  ox  was 
regarded  as  a  murderer ;  perhaps  he  was  hung  ;  and  if  he  had 
been  put  on  his  trial  by  oxen,  he  certainly  would  have  been ;  and 
he  certainly  deserved  it  if  any  murderer  does.  Go  to  the  meat- 
market  of  a  Saturday  night  and  see  the  crowds  of  live  bipeds 
staring  up  at  the  long  rows  of  dead  quadrupeds.  Does  not 
that  sight  take  a  tooth  out  of  the  cannibal's  jaw  ?  Cannibals  ? 
who  is  not  a  cannibal  ?  I  tell  you  it  will  be  more  tolerable  for 
the  Fejee  that  salted  down  a  lean  missionary  in  his  cellar  against 
a  coming  famine  ;  it  will  be  more  tolerable  for  that  provident  Fe- 
jee, I  say,  in  the  day  of  judgment,  than  for  thee,  civilized  and 
enlightened  gourmand,  who  nailest  geese  to  the  ground  and 
feastest  on  their  bloated  livers  in  thy  pate-de-foie-gras. 

But  Stubb,  he  eats  the  whale  by  its  own  light,  does  he  ?  and 
that  is  adding  insult  to  injury,  is  it  ?  Look  at  your  knife-han- 
dle, there,  my  civilized  and  enlightened  gourmand  dining  off 
that  roast  beef,  what  is  that  handle  made  of? — what  but  the 
bones  of  the  brother  of  the  very  ox  you  are  eating  ?  And 
what  do  you  pick  your  teeth  with,  after  devouring  that  fat 
goose  ?  With  a  feather  of  the  same  fowl.  And  with  what 
quill  did  the  Secretary  of  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of 
Cruelty  to  Ganders  formally  indite  his  circulars  ?  It  is  only 
within  the  last  month  or  two  that  that  society  passed  a  resolu- 
tion to  patronize  nothing  but  steel  pens. 


336  THE    SHARK    MASSACRE 


CHAPTER  LXVI. 

THE   SHARK  MASSACRE. 

When  in  the  Southern  Fishery,  a  captured  Sperm  Whale, 
after  long  and  weary  toil,  is  brought  alongside  late  at  night,  it 
is  not,  as  a  general  thing  at  least,  customary  to  proceed  at  once 
to  the  business  of  cutting  him  in.  For  that  business  is  an 
exceedingly  laborious  one ;  is  not  veiy  soon  completed ;  and 
requires  all  hands  to  set  about  it.  Therefore,  the  common 
usage  is  to  take  in  all  sail ;  lash  the  helm  a'lee ;  and  then  send 
every  one  below  to  his  hammock  till  daylight,  with  the  reserva- 
tion that,  until  that  time,  anchor-watches  shall  be  kept ;  that 
is,  two  and  two  for  an  hour,  each  couple,  the  crew  in  rotation 
shall  mount  the  deck  to  see  that  all  goes  well. 

But  sometimes,  especially  upon  the  Line  in  the  Pacific,  this 
plan  will  not  answer  at  all ;  because  such  incalculable  hosts  of 
sharks  gather  round  the  moored  carcase,  that  were  he  left  so 
for  six  hours,  say,  on  a  stretch,  little  more  than  the  skeleton 
would  be  visible  by  morning.  In  most  other  parts  of  the 
ocean,  however,  where  these  fish  do  not  so  largely  abound,  their 
wondrous  voracity  can  be  at  times  considerably  diminished,  by 
vigorously  stirring  them  up  with  sharp  whaling-spades,  a  pro- 
cedure notwithstanding,  which,  in  some  instances,  only  seems  to 
tickle  them  into  still  greater  activity.  But  it  was  not  thus  in 
the  present  case  with  the  Pequod's  sharks ;  though,  to  be  sure, 
any  man  unaccustomed  to  such  sights,  to  have  looked  over  her 
side  that  night,  would  have  almost  thought  the  whole  round 
sea  was  one  huge  cheese,  and  those  sharks  the  maggots  in  it. 

Nevertheless,  upon  Stubb  setting  the  anchor-watch  after  his 
supper  was  concluded ;  and  when,  accordingly,  Queequeg  and 


THE    SHARK    MASSACRE.  337 

a  forecastle  seaman  came  on  deck,  no  small  excitement  was 
created  among  the  sharks ;  for  immediately  suspending  the 
cutting  stages  over  the  side,  and  lowering  three  lanterns,  so 
that  they  cast  long  gleams  of  light  over  the  turbid  sea,  these 
two  mariners,  darting  their  long  whaling-spades,  kept  up  an 
incessant  murdering  of  the  sharks,*  by  striking  the  keen  steel 
deep  into  their  skulls,  seemingly  their  only  vital  part.  But  in 
the  foamy  confusion  of  their  mixed  and  struggling  hosts,  the 
marksmen  could  not  always  hit  their  mark ;  and  this  brought 
about  new  revelations  of  the  incredible  ferocity  of  the  foe. 
They  viciously  snapped,  not  only  at  each  other's  disembowel- 
ments,  but  like  flexible  bows,  bent  round,  and  bit  their  own ; 
till  those  entrails  seemed  swallowed  over  and  over  again  by  the 
same  mouth,  to  be  oppositely  voided  by  the  gaping  wound.  Nor 
was  this  all.  It  was  unsafe  to  meddle  with  the  corpses  and 
ghosts  of  these  creatures.  A  sort  of  generic  or  Pantheistic 
vitality  seemed  to  lurk  in  their  very  joints  and  bones,  after  what 
might  be  called  the  individual  life  had  departed.  Killed  and 
hoisted  on  deck  for  the  sake  of  his  skin,  one  of  these  sharks 
almost  took  poor  Queequeg's  hand  off,  when  he  tried  to  shut 
down  the  dead  lid  of  his  murderous  jaw. 

"  Queequeg  no  care  what  god  made  him  shark,"  said  the 
savage,  agonizingly  lifting  his  hand  up  and  down ;  "  wedder 
Fejee  god  or  Nantucket  god ;  but  de  god  wat  made  shark  must 
be  one  dam  Ingin." 

*  The  whaling-spade  used  for  cutting-in  is  made  of  the  very  best 
steel ;  is  about  the  bigness  of  a  man's  spread  hand  ;  and  in  general  shape, 
corresponds  to  the  garden  implement  after  which  it  is  named  ;  only  its 
sides  are  perfectly  flat,  and  its  upper  end  considerably  narrower  than  the 
lower.  This  weapon  is  always  kept  as  sharp  as  possible  ;  and  when 
being  used  is  occasionally  honed,  just  like  a  razor.  In  its  socket,  a 
stiff  pole,  from  twenty  to  thirty  feet  long,  is  inserted  for  a  handle. 


15 


338  CUTTING    IN 


CHAPTER  LXVII. 

CUTTING   IN. 

It  was  a  Saturday  night,  and  such  a  Sabbath  as  followed ! 
Ex  officio  professors  of  Sabbath  breaking  are  all  whalemen. 
The  ivory  Pequod  was  turned  into  what  seemed  a  shamble ; 
every  sailor  a  butcher.  You  would  have  thought  we  were 
offering  up  ten  thousand  red  oxen  to  the  sea  gods. 

In  the  first  place,  the  enormous  cutting  tackles,  among  other 
ponderous  things  comprising  a  cluster  of  blocks  generally  paint- 
ed green,  and  which  no  single  man  can  possibly  lift — this  vast 
bunch  of  grapes  was  swayed  up  to  the  main-top  and  firmly 
lashed  to  the  lower  mast-head,  the  strongest  point  anywhere 
above  a  ship's  deck.  The  end  of  the  hawser-like  rope  winding 
through  these  intricacies,  was  then  conducted  to  the  windlass, 
and  the  huge  lower  block  of  the  tackles  was  swung  over  the 
whale ;  to  this  block  the  great  blubber  hook,  weighing  some 
one  hundred  pounds,  was  attached.  And  now  suspended  in 
stages  over  the  side,  Starbuck  and  Stubb,  the  mates,  armed 
with  their  long  spades,  began  cutting  a  hole  in  the  body  for  the 
insertion  of  the  hook  just  above  the  nearest  of  the  two  side- 
fins.  This  done,  a  broad,  semicircular  line  is  cut  round  the 
hole,  the  hook  is  inserted,  and  the  main  body  of  the  crew  strik- 
ing up  a  wild  chorus,  now  commence  heaving  in  one  dense 
crowd  at  the  windlass.  When  instantly,  the  entire  ship  careens 
over  on  her  side ;  every  bolt  in  her  starts  like  the  nail-heads  of 
an  old  house  in  frosty  weather ;  she  trembles,  quivers,  and  nods 
her  frighted  mast-heads  to  the  sky.  More  and  more  she  leans 
over  to  the  whale,  while  every  gasping  heave  of  the  windlass  is 
answered  by  a  helping  heave  from  the  billows  ;  till  at  last,  a 
swift,  startling  snap  is  heard ;  with  a  great  swash  the  ship  rolls 


CUTTING    IN.  339 


upwards  and  backwards  from  the  whale,  and  the  triumphant  tackle 
rises  into  sight  dragging  after  it  the  disengaged  semicircular 
end  of  the  first  strip  of  blubber.  Now  as  the  blubber  envelopes 
the  whale  precisely  as  the  rind  does  an  orange,  so  is  it  stripped 
off  from  the  body  precisely  as  an  orange  is  sometimes  stripped 
by  spiralizing  it.  For  the  strain  constantly  kept  up  by  the 
windlass  continually  keeps  the  whale  rolling  over  and  over  in 
the  water,  and  as  the  blubber  in  one  strip  uniformly  peels  off 
along  the  line  called  the  "  scarf,''  simultaneously  cut  by  the 
spades  of  Starbuck  and  Stubb,  the  mates ;  and  just  as  fast  as 
it  is  thus  peeled  off,  and  indeed  by  that  very  act  itself,  it  is 
all  the  time  being  hoisted  higher  and  higher  aloft  till  its  upper 
end  grazes  the  main-top  ;  the  men  at  the  windlass  then  cease 
heaving,  and  for  a  moment  or  two  the  prodigious  blood-dripping 
mass  sways  to  and  fro  as  if  let  down  from  the  sky,  and  every 
one  present  must  take  good  heed  to  dodge  it  when  it  swings, 
else  it  may  box  his  ears  and  pitch  him  headlong  overboard. 

One  of  the  attending  harpooneers  now  advances  with  a  long, 
keen  weapon  called  a  boarding-sword,  and  watching  his  chance 
he  dexterously  slices  out  a  considerable  hole  in  the  lower  part 
of  the  swaying  mass.  Into  this  hole,  the  end  of  the  second 
alternating  great  tackle  is  then  hooked  so  as  to  retain  a  hold 
upon  the  blubber,  in  order  to  prepare  for  what  follows.  Where- 
upon, this  accomplished  swordsman,  warning  all  hands  to  stand 
off,  once  more  makes  a  scientific  dash  at  the  mass,  and  with  a 
few  sidelong,  desperate,  lunging  slicings,  severs  it  completely  in 
twain  ;  so  that  while  the  short  lower  part  is  still  fast,  the  long 
upper  strip,  called  a  blanket-piece,  swings  clear,  and  is  all  ready 
for  lowering.  The  heavers  forward  now  resume  their  song,  and 
while  the  one  tackle  is  peeling  and  hoisting  a  second  strip  from  the 
whale,  the  other  is  slowly  slackened  away,  and  down  goes  the  first 
strip  through  the  main  hatchway  right  beneath,  into  an  unfur- 
nished parlor  called  the  blubber-room.  Into  this  twilight  apart- 
ment sundry  nimble  hands  keep  coiling  away  the  long  blanket- 


340  THE    BLANKET. 

piece  as  if  it  were  a  great  live  mass  of  plaited  serpents.  And 
thus  the  work  proceeds  ;  the  two  tackles  hoisting  and  lowering 
simultaneously  ;  both  whale  and  windlass  heaving,  the  heavers 
singing,  the  blubber-room  gentlemen  coiling,  the  mates  scarfing, 
the  ship  straining,  and  all  hands  swearing  occasionally,  by  way 
of  assuaging  the  general  friction. 


CHAPTER  LXVIII. 

THE  BLANKET. 

I  have  given  no  small  attention  to  that  not  unvexed  subject, 
the  skin  of  the  whale.  I  have  had  controversies  about  it  with 
experienced  whalemen  afloat,  and  learned  naturalists  ashore. 
My  original  opinion  remains  unchanged ;  but  it  is  only  an 
opinion. 

The  question  is,  what  and  where  is  the  skin  of  the  whale  ? 
Already  you  know  what  his  blubber  is.  That  blubber  is  some- 
thing of  the  consistence  of  firm,  close-grained  beef,  but  tougher, 
more  elastic  and  compact,  and  ranges  from  eight  or  ten  to 
twelve  and  fifteen  inches  in  thickness. 

Now,  however  preposterous  it  may  at  first  seem  to  talk  of 
any  creature's  skin  as  being  of  that  sort  of  consistence  and 
thickness,  yet  in  point  of  fact  these  are  no  arguments  against 
such  a  presumption ;  because  you  cannot  raise  any  other  dense 
enveloping  layer  from  the  whale's  body  but  that  same  blubber ; 
and  the  outermost  enveloping  layer  of  any  animal,  if  reasonably 
dense,  what  can  that  be  but  the  skin  ?  True,  from  the  unmarred 
dead  body  of  the  whale,  you  may  scrape  off  with  your  hand 
an  infinitely  thin,  transparent  substance,  somewhat  resembling 
the  thinnest  shreds  of  isinglass,  only  it  is  almost  as  flexible  and 
soft  as  satin  ;  that  is,  previous  to  being  dried,  when  it  not  only 


THE    BLANKET.  34) 

contracts  and  thickens,  but  becomes  rather  hard  and  brittle.  I 
have  several  such  dried  bits,  which  I  use  for  marks  in  my  whale- 
books.  It  is  transparent,  as  I  said  before ;  and  being  laid  upon 
the  printed  page,  I  have  sometimes  pleased  myself  with  fancy- 
ing it  exerted  a  magnifying  influence.  At  any  rate,  it  is  pleasant 
to  read  about  whales  through  their  own  spectacles,  as  you  may 
say.  But  what  I  am  driving  at  here  is  this.  That  same  infi- 
nitely thin,  isinglass  substance,  which,  I  admit,  invests  the 
entire  body  of  the  whale,  is  not  so  much  to  be  regarded  as  the 
skin  of  the  creature,  as  the  skin  of  the  skin,  so  to  speak  ;  for  it 
were  simply  ridiculous  to  say,  that  the  proper  skin  of  the  tre- 
mendous whale  is  thinner  and  more  tender  than  the  skin  of  a 
new-born  child.     But  no  more  of  this. 

Assuming  the  blubber  to  be  the  skin  of  the  whale  ;  then, 
when  this  skin,  as  in  the  case  of  a  very  large  Sperm  Whale, 
will  yield  the  bulk  of  one  hundred  barrels  of  oil ;  and,  when  it 
is  considered  that,  in  quantity,  or  rather  weight,  that  oil,  in  its 
expressed  state,  is  only  three  fourths,  and  not  the  entire  sub- 
stance of  the  coat ;  some  idea  may  hence  be  had  of  the  enor- 
mousness  of  that  animated  mass,  a  mere  part  of  whose  mere 
integument  yields  such  a  lake  of  liquid  as  that.  Reckoning 
ten  barrels  to  the  ton,  you  have  ten  tons  for  the  net  weight  of 
only  three  quarters  of  the  stuff  of  the  whale's  skin. 

In  life,  the  visible  surface  of  the  Sperm  Whale  is  not  the  least 
among  the  many  marvels  he  presents.  Almost  invariably  it  is 
all  over  obliquely  crossed  and  re-crossed  with  numberless  straight 
marks  in  thick  array,  something  like  those  in  the  finest  Italian 
line  engravings.  But  these  marks  do  not  seem  to  be  impressed 
upon  the  isinglass  substance  above  mentioned,  but  seem  to  be 
seen  through  it,  as  if  they  were  engraved  upon  the  body  itself. 
Nor  is  this  all.  In  some  instances,  to  the  quick,  observant  eye, 
those  linear  marks,  as  in  a  veritable  engraving,  but  afford  the 
ground  for  far  other  delineations.  These  are  hieroglyphical ; 
that  is,  if  you  call  those  mysterious  cyphers  on  the  walls  of 


342  THE    BLANKET. 


pyramids  hieroglyphics,  then  that  is  the  proper  word  to  use  in 
the  present  connexion.  By  my  retentive  memory  of  the  hiero- 
glyphics upon  one  Sperm  Whale  in  particular,  I  was  much 
struck  with  a  plate  representing  the  old  Indian  characters  chi- 
selled on  the  famous  hieroglyphic  palisades  on  the  banks  of  the 
Upper  Mississippi.  Like  those  mystic  rocks,  too,  the  mystic- 
marked  whale  remains  undecipherable.  This  allusion  to  the 
Indian  rocks  reminds  me  of  another  thing.  Besides  all  the 
other  phenomena  which  the  exterior  of  the  Sperm  Whale  pre- 
sents, he  not  seldom  displays  the  back,  and  more  especially  his 
flanks,  effaced  in  great  part  of  the  regular  linear  appearance,  by 
reason  of  numerous  rude  scratches,  altogether  of  an  irregular, 
random  aspect.  I  should  say  that  those  New  England  rocks  on 
the  sea-coast,  which  Agassiz  imagines  to  bear  the  marks  of 
violent  scraping  contact  with  vast  floating  icebergs — I  should 
say,  that  those  rocks  must  not  a  little  resemble  the  Sperm  Whale 
in  this  particular.  It  also  seems  to  me  that  such  scratches  in 
the  whale  are  probably  made  by  hostile  contact  with  other 
whales ;  for  I  have  most  remarked  them  in  the  large,  full- 
grown  bulls  of  the  species. 

A  word  or  two  more  concerning  this  matter  of  the  skin  or 
blubber  of  the  whale.  It  has  already  been  said,  that  it  is  stript 
from  him  in  long  pieces,  called  blanket-pieces.  Like  most  sea- 
terms,  this  one  is  very  happy  and  significant.  For  the  whale  is 
indeed  wrapt  up  in  his  blubber  as  in  a  real  blanket  or  counter- 
pane ;  or,  still  better,  an  Indian  poncho  slipt  over  his  head,  and 
skirting  his  extremity.  It  is  by  reason  of  this  cosy  blanketing 
of  his  body,  that  the  whale  is  enabled  to  keep  himself  comforta- 
ble in  all  weathers,  in  all  seas,  times,  and  tides.  What  would 
become  of  a  Greenland  whale,  say,  in  those  shuddering,  icy 
seas  of  the  North,  if  unsupplied  with  his  cosy  surtout  ?  True, 
other  fish  are  found  exceedingly  brisk  in  those  Hyperborean 
waters ;  but  these,  be  it  observed,  are  your  cold-blooded,  lung- 
less  fish,  whose  very  bellies  are  refrigerators;  creatures,  that 


THE    FUNERAL.  343 

warm  themselves  under  the  lee  of  an  iceberg,  as  a  traveller  in 
winter  would  bask  before  an  inn  fire ;  whereas,  like  man,  the 
whale  has  lungs  and  warm  blood.  Freeze  his  blood,  and  he 
dies.  How  wonderful  is  it  then — except  after  explanation — 
that  this  great  monster,  to  whom  corporeal  warmth  is  as  indis- 
pensable as  it  is  to  man ;  how  wonderful  that  he  should  be 
found  at  home,  immersed  to  his  lips  for  life  in  those  Arctic 
waters !  where,  when  seamen  fall  overboard,  they  are  sometimes 
found,  months  afterwards,  perpendicularly  frozen  into  the  hearts 
of  fields  of  ice,  as  a  fly  is  found  glued  in  amber.  But  more 
surprising  is  it  to  know,  as  has  been  proved  by  experiment,  that 
the  blood  of  a  Polar  whale  is  warmer  than  that  of  a  Borneo 
negro  in  summer. 

It  does  seem  to  me,  that  herein  we  see  the  rare  virtue  of  a 
strong  individual  vitality,  and  the  rare  virtue  of  thick  walls, 
and  the  rare  virtue  of  interior  spaciousness.  Oh,  man !  admire 
and  model  thyself  after  the  whale !  Do  thou,  too,  remain 
warm  among  ice.  Do  thou,  too,  live  in  this  world  without 
uling  of  it.  Be  cool  at  the  equator ;  keep  thy  blood  fluid  at 
the  Pole.  Like  the  great  dome  of  St.  Peter's,  and  like  the 
great  whale,  retain,  O  man !  in  all  seasons  a  temperature  of 
thine  own. 

But  how  easy  and  how  hopeless  to  teach  these  fine  things ! 
Of  erections,  how  few  are  domed  like  St.  Peter's  !  of  creatures, 
how  few  vast  as  the  whale  ! 


CHAPTER  LXIX. 

THE    FUNERAL. 


"  Haul  in  the  chains !     Let  the  carcase  go  astern !" 
The  vast  tackles  have  now  done  their  duty.     The  peeled 
white  body  of  the  beheaded  whale  flashes  like  a  marble  sepul- 


344  THE    FUNERAL 


ehre ;  though  changed  in  hue,  it  has  not  perceptibly  lost  any- 
thing in  bulk.  It  is  still  colossal.  Slowly  it  floats  more  and 
more  away,  the  water  round  it  torn  and  splashed  by  the  insati- 
ate sharks,  and  the  air  above  vexed  with  rapacious  flights  of 
screaming  fowls,  whose  beaks  are  like  so  many  insulting  poni- 
ards in  the  whale.  The  vast  white  headless  phantom  floats 
further  and  further  from  the  ship,  and  every  rod  that  it  so  floats, 
what  seem  square  roods  of  sharks  and  cubic  roods  of  fowls, 
augment  the  murderous  din.  For  hours  and  hours  from  the 
almost  stationary  ship  that  hideous  sight  is  seen.  Beneath  the 
unclouded  and  mild  azure  sky,  upon  the  fair  face  of  the  plea- 
sant sea,  wafted  by  the  joyous  breezes,  that  great  mass  of  death 
floats  on  and  on,  till  lost  in  infinite  perspectives. 

There's  a  most  doleful  and  most  mocking  funeral !  The  sea- 
vultures  all  in  pious  mourning,  the  air-sharks  all  punctiliously 
in  black  or  speckled.  In  life  but  few  of  them  would  have  helped 
the  whale,  I  ween,  if  perad venture  he  had  needed  it ;  but  upon 
the  banquet  of  his  funeral  they  most  piously  do  pounce.  '-Oh. 
hjQKrible_  vultureism^pf  earth  !..  from  which  not  the  mightiest 
whale  is  free. 

Nor  is  this  the  end.  Desecrated  as  the  body  is,  a  vengeful 
ghost  survives  and  hovers  over  it  to  scare.  Espied  by  some 
timid  man-of-war  or  blundering  discovery-vessel  from  afar, 
when  the  distance  obscuring  the  swarming  fowls,  nevertheless 
still  shows  the  white  mass  floating  in  the  sun,  and  the  white 
spray  heaving  high  against  it ;  straightway  the  whale's  un- 
harming  corpse,  with  trembling  fingers  is  set  down  in  the  log — 
shoals,  rocks,  and  breakers  hereabouts :  betoare !  And  for 
years  afterwards,  perhaps,  ships  shun  the  place  ;  leaping  over  it 
as  silly  sheep  leap  over  a  vacuum,  because  their  leader  <  igi- 
nally  leaped  there  when  a  stick  was  held.  There's  your  L  of 
precedents  ;  there's  your  utility  of  traditions  ;  there's  the  story 
of  your  obstinate  survival  of  old  beliefs  never  bottomed  on  the 
earth,  and  now  not  even  hovering  in  the  air  !    There's  orthodoxy ! 


THE    SPHYNX.  345 


Thus,  while  in  life  the  great  whale's  body  may  have  been  a 
real  terror  to  his  foes,  in  his  death  his  ghost  becomes  a  power- 
less panic  to  a  world. 

Are  you  a  believer  in  ghosts,  my  friend  ?  There  are  other 
ghosts  than  the  Cock-Lane  one,  and  far  deeper  men  than  Doc- 
tor Johnson  who  believe  in  them. 


CHAPTER  LXX. 

THE    SPHYNX. 

It  should  not  have  been  omitted  that  previous  to  completely 
stripping  the  body  of  the  leviathan,  he  was  beheaded.  Now, 
the  beheading  of  the  Sperm  Whale  is  a  scientific  anatomical 
feat,  upon  which  experienced  whale  surgeons  very  much  pride 
themselves :  and  not  without  reason. 

Consider  that  the  whale  has  nothing  that  can  properly  be 
called  a  neck ;  on  the  contrary,  where  his  head  and  body  seem 
to  join,  there,  in  that  very  place,  is  the  thickest  part  of  him. 
Remember,  also,  that  the  surgeon  must  operate  from  above, 
some  eight  or  ten  feet  intervening  between  him  and  his  subject, 
and  that  subject  almost  hidden  in  a  discolored,  rolling,  and 
oftentimes  tumultuous  and  bursting  sea.  Bear  in  mind,  too, 
that  under  these  untoward  circumstances  he  has  to  cut  many 
feet  deep  in  the  flesh ;  and  in  that  subterraneous  manner,  with- 
out so  much  as  getting  one  single  peep  into  the  ever-contract- 
ing gash  thus  made,  he  must  skilfully  steer  clear  of  all  adja- 
cent, interdicted  parts,  and  exactly  divide  the  spine  at  a  critical 
point  hard  by  its  insertion  into  the  skull.  Do  you  not  marvel, 
ther,  at  Stubb's  boast,  that  he  demanded  but  ten  minutes  to 
behead  a  sperm  whale  ? 

When  first  severed,  the  head  is  dropped  astern  and  held  there 
15* 


346  THE    S  PHY  NX. 


by  a  cable  till  the  body  is  stripped.  That  done,  if  it  belong  to 
a  small  whale  it  is  hoisted  on  deck  to  be  deliberately  disposed 
of.  But,  with  a  full  grown  leviathan  this  is  impossible ;  for  the 
sperm  whale's  head  embraces  nearly  one  third  of  his  entire 
bulk,  and  completely  to  suspend  such  a  burden  as  that,  even 
by  the  immense  tackles  of  a  whaler,  this  were  as  vain  a  thing 
as  to  attempt  weighing  a  Dutch  barn  in  jewellers'  scales. 

The  Pequod's  whale  being  decapitated  and  the  body  stripped, 
the  head  was  hoisted  against  the  ship's  side — about  half  way  out 
of  the  sea,  so  that  it  might  yet  in  great  part  be  buoyed  up  by 
its  native  element.  And  there  with  the  strained  craft  steeply 
leaning  over  to  it,  by  reason  of  the  enormous  downward  drag 
from  the  lower  mast-head,  and  every  yard-arm  on  that  side 
projecting  like  a  crane  over  the  waves ;  there,  that  blood-drip- 
ping head  hung  to  the  Pequod's  waist  like  the  giant  Holofernes's 
from  the  girdle  of  Judith. 

When  this  last  task  was  accomplished  it  was  noon,  and  the 
seamen  went  .below  to  their  dinner.  Silence  reigned  over  the 
before  tumultuous  but  now  deserted  deck.  An  intense  copper 
calm,  like  a  universal  yellow  lotus,  was  more  and  more  unfold- 
ing its  noiseless  measureless  leaves  upon  the  sea. 

A  short  space  elapsed,  and  up  into  this  noiselessness  came 
Ahab  alone  from  his  cabin.  Taking  a  few  turns  on  the  quarter- 
deck, he  paused  to  gaze  over  the  side,  then  slowly  getting  into 
the  main-chains  he  took  Stubb's  long  spade — still  remaining 
there  after  the  whale's  decapitation — and  striking  it  into  the 
lower  part  of  the  half-suspended  mass,  placed  its  other  end 
crutch-wise  under  one  arm,  and  so  stood  leaning  over  with  eves 
attentively  fixed  on  this  head. 

It  was  a  black  and  hooded  head  ;  and  hanging  there  in  the 
midst  of  so  intense  a  calm,  it  seemed  the  Sphynx's  in  the  de- 
sert. "  Speak,  thou  vast  and  venerable  head,"  muttered  Ahab, 
"which,  though  ungarnished  with  a  beard,  yet  here  and  there 
lookest  hoary  with  mosses  ;  speak,  mighty  head,  and  tell  us  the 


THESPHYNX.  347 


secret  thing  that  is  in  thee.  Of  all  divers,  thou  hast  dived  the 
deepest.  That  head  upon  which  the  upper  sun  now  gleams, 
has  moved  amid  this  world's  foundations.  Where  unrecorded 
names  and  navies  rust,  and  untold  hopes  and  anchors  rot ;  where 
in  her  murderous  hold  this  frigate  earth  is  ballasted  with  bones 
of  millions  of  the  drowned ;  there,  in  that  awful  water-land, 
there  was  thy  most  familiar  home.  Thou  hast  been  where  bell 
or  diver  never  went ;  hast  slept  by  many  a  sailor's  side,  where 
sleepless  mothers  would  give  their  lives  to  lay  them  down. 
Thou  saw'st  the  locked  lovers  when  leaping  from  their  flaming 
ship ;  heart  to  heart  they  sank  beneath  the  exulting  wave ;  true 
to  each  other,  when  heaven  seemed  false  to  them.  Thou  saw'st 
the  murdered  mate  when  tossed  by  pirates  from  the  midnight  deck ; 
for  hours  he  fell  into  the  deeper  midnight  of  the  insatiate  maw  ; 
and  his  murderers  still  sailed  on  unharmed — while  swift  light- 
nings shivered  the  neighboring  ship  that  would  have  borne  a 
righteous  husband  to  outstretched,  longing  arms.  O  head! 
thou  hast  seen  enough  to  split  the  planets  and  make  an  infidel 
of  Abraham,  and  not  one  syllable  is  thine !'' 

"  Sail  ho !"  cried  a  triumphant  voice  from  the  main-mast- 
head. 

"  Aye  ?  Well,  now,  that's  cheering,"  cried  Ahab,  suddenly, 
erecting  himself,  while  whole  thunder-clouds  swept  aside  from 
his  brow.  "  That  lively  cry  upon  this  deadly  calm  might  almost 
convert  a  better  man. — Where  away  ?" 

"  Three  points  on  the  starboard  bow,  sir,  and  bringing  down 
her  breeze  to  us !'' 

"  Better  and  better,  man.  Would  now  St.  Paul  would  come 
along  that  way,  and  to  my  breezelessness  bring  his  breeze !  O 
Nature,  and  O  soul  of  man  !  how  far  beyond  all  utterance  are 
your  linked  analogies  !  not  the  smallest  atom  stirs  or  lives  on 
matter,  but  has  its  cunning  duplicate  in  mind." 


THE    JEROBOAM'S.  STORY. 


CHAPTER  LXXI.  .     • 

the  jeroboam's  story. 

Hand  in  hand,  ship  and  breeze  blew  on  ;  but  the  breeze 
came  faster  than  the  ship,  and  soon  the  Pequod  began  to  rock. 

By  and  by,  through  the  glass  the  strangers'  boats  and 
manned  mast-heads  proved  her  a  whale-ship.  But  as  she  was 
so  far  to  windward,  and  shooting  by,  apparently  making  a  pas- 
sage to  some  other  ground,  the  Pequod  could  not  hope  to 
reach  her.  So  the  signal  was  set  to  see  what  response  would  be 
made. 

Here  be  it  said,  that  like  the  vessels  of  military  marines,  the 
ships  of  the  American  Whale  Fleet  have  each  a  private  signal ; 
all  which  signals  being  collected  in  a  book  with  the  names  of 
the  respective  vessels  attached,  every  captain  is  provided  with 
it.  Thereby,  the  whale  commanders  are  enabled  to  recognise 
each  other  upon  the  ocean,  even  at  considerable  distances,  and 
with  no  small  facility. 

The  Pequod's  signal  was  at  last  responded  to  by  the  stran- 
ger's setting  her  own  ;  which  proved  the  ship  to  be  the  Jero- 
boam of  Nantucket.  Squaring  her  yards,  she  bore  down, 
ranged  abeam  under  the  Pequod's  lee,  and  lowered  a  boat ;  it 
soon  drew  nigh ;  but,  as  the  side-ladder  was  being  rigged  by 
Starbuck's  order  to  accommodate  the  visiting  captain,  the  stran- 
ger in  question  waved  his  hand  from  his  boat's  stern  in  token 
of  that  proceeding  being  entirely  unnecessary.  It  turned  out 
that  the  Jeroboam  had  a  malignant  epidemic  on  board,  and 
that  Mayhew,  her  captain,  was  fearful  of  infecting  the  Pequod's 
company.  For,  though  himself  and  boat's  crew  remained  un- 
tainted, and  though  his  ship  was  half  a  rifle-shot  off,  and  an 


THE    JEROBOAM'S    STORY.  349 

incorruptible  sea  and  air  rolling  and  flowing  between  ;  yet  con- 
scientiously adhering  to  the  timid  quarantine  of  the  land,  he 
peremptorily  refused  to  come  into  direct  contact  with  the 
Pequod. 

But  this  did,  by  no  means  prevent  all  communication.  Pre- 
serving an'  interval  of  some  few  yards  between  itself  and  the  ship, 
the  Jeroboam's  boat  by  the  occasional  use  of  its  oars  contrived 
to  keep  parallel  to  the  Pequod,  as  she  heavily  forged  through 
the  sea  (for  by  this  time  it  blew  very  fresh),  with  her  main-top- 
sail aback ;  though,  indeed,  at  times  by  the  sudden  onset  of  a 
large  rolling  wave,  the  boat  would  be  pushed  some  way  ahead ; 
but  would  be  soon  skilfully  brought  to  her  proper  bearings 
again.  Subject  to  this,  and  other  the  like  interruptions  now 
and  then,  a  conversation  was  sustained  between  the  two  par- 
ties ;  but  at  intervals  not  without  still  another  interruption  of  a 
very  different  sort. 

Pulling  an  oar  in  the  Jeroboam's  boat,  was  a  man  of  a  sin- 
gular appearance,  even  in  that  wild  whaling  life  where  indivi- 
dual notabilities  make  up  all  totalities.  He  was  a  small,  short, 
youngish  man,  sprinkled  all  over  his  face  with  freckles,  and 
wearing  redundant  yellow  hair.  A  long-skirted,  cabalistically- 
cut  coat  of  a  faded  walnut  tinge  enveloped  him ;  the  overlap- 
ping sleeves  of  which  were  rolled  up  on  his  wrists.  A  deep, 
settled,  fanatic  delirium  was  in  his  eyes. 

So  soon  as  this  figure  had  been  first  descried,  Stubb  had  ex- 
claimed— "  That's  he  !  that's  he !— the  long-togged  scaramouch 
the  Town-Ho's  company  told  us  of!"  Stubb  here  alluded  to 
a  strange  story  told  of  the  Jeroboam,  and  a  certain  man  among 
her  crew,  some  time  previous  when  the  Pequod  spoke  the 
Town-Ho.  According  to  this  account  and  what  was  subse- 
quently learned,  it  seemed  that  the  scaramouch  in  question  had 
gained  a  wonderful  ascendency  over  almost  everybody  in  the 
Jeroboam.     His  story  was  this  : 

He  had  been  originally  nurtured  among  the  crazy  society  of 


350  THE    JEROBOAM'S    STORY. 

Neskyeuna  Shakers,  where  he  had  been  a  great  prophet ;  in 
their  cracked,  secret  meetings  having  several  times  descended 
from  heaven  by  the  way  of  a  trap-door,  announcing  the  speedy 
opening  of  the  seventh  vial,  which  he  carried  in  his  vest-pocket ; 
but,  which,  instead  of  containing  gunpowder,  was  supposed  to 
be  charged  with  laudanum.  A  strange,  apostolic  whim  having 
seized  him,  he  had  left  Neskyeuna  for  Nantucket,  where,  with 
that  cunning  peculiar  to  craziness,  he  assumed  a  steady,  com- 
mon sense  exterior,  and  offered  himself  as  a  green-hand  candi- 
date for  the  Jeroboam's  whaling  voyage.  They  engaged  him  ; 
but  straightway  upon  the  ship's  getting  out  of  sight  of  land,  his 
insanity  broke  out  in  a  freshet.  He  announced  himself  as  the 
archangel  Gabriel,  and  commanded  the  captain  to  jump  over- 
board. He  published  his  manifesto,  whereby  he  set  himself 
forth  as  the  deliverer  of  the  isles  of  the  sea  and  vicar-general 
of  all  Oceanica.  The  unflinching  earnestness  with  which  he 
declared  these  things ; — the  dark,  daring  play  of  his  sleepless, 
excited  imagination,  and  all  the  preternatural  terrors  of  real 
delirium,  united  to  invest  this  Gabriel  in  the  minds  of  the  ma- 
jority of  the  ignorant  crew,  with  an  atmosphere  of  sacredness. 
Moreover,  they  were  afraid  of  him.  As  such  a  man,  however, 
was  not  of  much  practical  use  in  the  ship,  especially  as  he 
refused  to  work  except  when  he  pleased,  the  incredulous  cap- 
tain would  fain  have  been  rid  of  him ;  but  apprised  that  that 
individual's  intention  was  to  land  him  in  the  first  convenient 
port,  the  archangel  forthwith  opened  all  his  seals  and  vials — 
devoting  the  ship  and  all  hands  to  unconditional  perdition,  in 
case  this  intention  was  carried  out.  So  strongly  did  he  work 
upon  his  disciples  among  the  crew,  that  at  last  in  a  body  they 
went  to  the  captain  and  told  him  if  Gabriel  was  sent  from  the 
ship,  not  a  man  of  them  would  remain.  He  was  therefore 
forced  to  relinquish  his  plan.  Nor  would  they  permit  Gabriel 
to  be  any  way  maltreated,  say  or  do  what  he  would  ;  so  that  it 
came  to  pass  that  Gabriel  had  the  complete  freedom  of  the 


THE    JEROBOAM'S    STORY.  351 

ship.  The  consequence  of  all  this  was,  that  the  archangel  cared 
little  or  nothing  for  the  captain  and  mates  ;  and  since  the  epi- 
demic had  broken  out,  he  carried  a  higher  hand  than  ever ; 
declaring  that  the  plague,  as  he  called  it,  was  at  his  sole  com- 
mand ;  nor  should  it  be  stayed  but  according  to  his  good  pleas- 
ure. The  sailors,  mostly  poor  devils,  cringed,  and  some  of 
them  fawned  before  him ;  in  obedience  to  his  instructions,  some- 
times rendering  him  personal  homage,  as  to  a  god.  Such 
things  may  seem  incredible ;  but,  however  wondrous,  they  are 
true.  Nor  is  the  history  of  fanatics  half  so  striking  in  respect 
to  the  measureless  self-deception  of  the  fanatic  himself,  as  his 
measureless  power  of  deceiving  and  bedevilling  so  many  others. 
But  it  is  time  to  return  to  the  Pequod. 

"  I  fear  not  thy  epidemic,  man,''  said  Ahab  from  the  bul- 
warks, to  Captain  Mayhew,  who  stood  in  the  boat's  stern; 
"  come  on  board." 

But  now  Gabriel  started  to  his  feet. 

"  Think,  think  of  the  fevers,  yellow  and  bilious  !  Beware 
of  the  horrible  plague  !" 

"  Gabriel,  Gabriel !"  cried  Captain  Mayhew  ;  "  thou  must 
either — "  But  that  instant  a  headlong  wave  shot  the  boat  far 
ahead,  and  its  seethings  drowned  all  speech. 

"  Hast  thou  seen  the  White  Whale  ?"  demanded  Ahab,  when 
the  boat  drifted  back. 

"  Think,  think  of  thy  whale-boat,  stoven  and  sunk  !  Beware 
of  the  horrible  tail !" 

"I  tell  thee  again,  Gabriel,  that — "  But  again  the  boat 
tore  ahead  as  if  dragged  by  fiends.  Nothing  was  said  for  some 
moments,  while  a  succession  of  riotous  waves  rolled  by,  which 
by  one  of  those  occasional  caprices  of  the  seas  were  tumbling, 
not  heaving  it.  Meantime,  the  hoisted  sperm  whale's  head 
jogged  about  very  violently,  and  Gabriel  was  seen  eyeing  it 
with  rather  more  apprehensiveness  than  his  archangel  nature 
seemed  to  warrant. 


359  THE    JEROBOAM'S    STORY. 

When  this  interlude  was  over,  Captain  Mayhew  began  a  dark 
story  concerning  Moby  Dick ;  not,  however,  without  frequent 
interruptions  from  Gabriel,  whenever  his  name  was  mentioned, 
and  the  crazy  sea  that  seemed  leagued  with  him. 

It  seemed  that  the  Jeroboam  had  not  long  left  home,  when 
upon  speaking  a,  whale-ship,  her  people  were  reliably  apprised 
of  the  existence  of  Moby  Dick,  and  the  havoc  he  had  made. 
Greedily  sucking  in  this  intelligence,  Gabriel  solemnly  warned 
the  captain  against  attacking  the  White  Whale,  in  case  the 
monster  should  be  seen ;  in  his  gibbering  insanity,  pronouncing 
the  White  Whale  to  be  no  less  a  being  than  the  Shaker  God 
incarnated  ;  the  Shakers  receiving  the  Bible.  But  when,  some 
year  or  two  afterwards,  Moby  Dick  was  fairly  sighted  from  the 
mast-heads,  Macey,  the  chief  mate,  burned  with  ardor  to  en- 
counter him ;  and  the  captain  himself  being  not  unwilling  to 
let  him  have  the  opportunity,  despite  all  the  archangel's  denun- 
ciations and  fore  warnings,  Macey  succeeded  in  persuading  five 
men  to  man  his  boat.  With  them  he  pushed  off ;  and,  after 
much  weary  pulling,  and  many  perilous,  unsuccessful  onsets,  he 
at  last  succeeded  in  getting  one  iron  fast.  Meantime,  Gabriel, 
ascending  to  the  main-royal  mast-head,  was  tossing  one  arm 
in  frantic  gestures,  and  hurling  forth  "prophecies  of  speedy  doom 
to  the  sacrilegious  assailants  of  his  divinity.  Now,  while  Macey, 
the  mate,  was  standing  up  in  his  "boat's  bow,  and  with  all  the 
reckless  energy  of  his  tribe  was  venting  his  wild  exclamations 
upon  the  whale,  and  essaying  to  get  a  fair  chance  for  his  poised 
lance,  lo !  a  broad  white  shadow  rose  from  the  sea ;  by  its  quick, 
fanning  motion,  temporarily  taking  the  breath  out  of  the  bodies 
of  the  oarsmen.  Next  instant,  the  luckless  mate,  so  full  of 
furious  life,  was  smitten  bodily  into  the  air,  and  making  a 
long  arc  in  his  descent,  fell  into  the  sea  at  the  distance  of  about 
fifty  yards.  Not  a  chip  of  the  boat  was  harmed,  nor  a  hair  of 
any  oarsman's  head  ;  but  the  mate  for  ever  sank. 

Tt  is  well  to  parenthesize  here,  that  of  the  fatal  accidents  in 


THE    JEROBOAM'S    STORY.  353 

the  Sperm-Whale  Fishery,  this  kind  is  perhaps  almost  as  fre- 
quent as  any.  Sometimes,  nothing  is  injured  but  the  man  who 
is  thus  annihilated ;  oftener  the  boat's  bow  is  knocked  off,  or 
the  thigh-board,  in  which  the  headsman  stands,  is  torn  from  its 
place  and  accompanies  the  body.  But  strangest  of  all  is  the 
circumstance,  that  in  more  instances  than  one,  when  the  body 
has  been  recovered,  not  a  single  mark  of  violence  is  discernible ; 
the  man  being  stark  dead. 

The  whole  calamity,  with  the  falling  form  of  Macey,  was 
plainly  descried  from  the  ship.  Raising  a  piercing  shriek — 
"  The  vial !  the  vial !"  Gabriel  called  off  the  terror-stricken 
crew  from  the  further  hunting  of  the  whale.  This  terrible 
event  clothed  the  archangel  with  added  influence ;  because  his 
credulous  disciples  believed  that  he  had  specifically  fore- 
announced  it,  instead  of  only  making  a  general  prophecy,  which 
any  one  might  have  done,  and  so  have  chanced  to  hit  one  of 
many  marks  in  the  wide  margin  allowed.  He  became  a  name- 
less terror  to  the  ship. 

Mayhew  having  concluded  his  narration,  Ahab  put  such 
questions  to  him,  that  the  stranger  captain  could  not  forbear 
inquiring  whether  he  intended  to  hunt  the  White  Whale,  if  oppor- 
tunity should  offer.  To  which  Ahab  answered — "Aye." 
Straightway,  then,  Gabriel  once  more  started  to  his  feet,  glaring 
upon  the  old  man,  and  vehemently  exclaimed,  with  downward 
pointed  finger — "  Think,  think  of  the  blasphemer — dead,  and 
down  there ! — beware  of  the  blasphemer's  end  !" 

Ahab  stolidly  turned  aside  ;  then  said  to  Mayhew,  "  Captain,  I 
have  just  bethought  me  of  my  letter-bag  ;  there  is  a  letter  for 
one  of  thy  officers,  if  I  mistake  not.  Starbuck,  look  over  the 
bag." 

Every  whale-ship  takes  out  a  goodly  number  of  letters  for 
various  ships,  whose  delivery  to  the  persons  to  whom  they  may 
be  addressed,  depends  upon  the  mere  chance  of  encountering 
them  in  the  four  oceans.    Thus,  most  letters  never  reach  their 


354  THE    JEROBOAM'S    STORY. 

mark ;  and  many  are  only  received  after  attaining  an  age  of 
two  or  three  years  or  more. 

Soon  Starbuck  returned  with  a  letter  in  his  hand.  It  was 
sorely  tumbled,  damp,  and  covered  with  a  dull,  spotted,  green 
mould,  in  consequence  of  being  kept  in  a  dark  locker  of  the 
cabin.  Of  such  a  letter,  Death  himself  might  well  have  been 
the  post-boy. 

"  Can'st  not  read  it  ?"  cried  Ahab.  "  Give  it  me,  man.  Aye, 
aye,  it's  but  a  dim  scrawl ; — what's  this  ?"  As  he  was  studying 
it  out,  Starbuck  took  a  long  cutting-spade  pole,  and  with  his 
knife  slightly  split  the  end,  to  insert  the  letter  there,  and  in 
that  way,  hand  it  to  the  boat,  without  its  coming  any  closer  to 
the  ship. 

Meantime,  Ahab  holding  the  letter,  muttered,  "  Mr.  Har — 
yes,  Mr.  Harry — (a  woman's  pinny  hand, — the  man's  wife,  I'll 
wager) — Aye — Mr.  Harry  Macey,  Ship  Jeroboam  ; — why  it's 
Macey,  and  he's  dead  !'' 

"  Poor  fellow !  poor  fellow !  and  from  his  wife,"  sighed 
Mayhew ;  "  but  let  me  have  it." 

"  Nay,  keep  it  thyself,"  cried  Gabriel  to  Ahab ;  "  thou  art 
soon  going  that  way." 

"  Curses  throttle  thee !"  yelled  Ahab.  "  Captain  Mayhew, 
stand  by  now  to  receive  it ;''  and  taking  the  fatal  missive  from 
Starbuck's  hands,  he  caught  it  in  the  slit  of  the  pole,  and 
reached  it  over  towards  the  boat.  But  as  he  did  so,  the  oars- 
men expectantly  desisted  from  rowing ;  the  boat  drifted  a  little 
towards  the  ship's  stern ;  so  that,  as  if  by  magic,  the  letter  sud- 
denly ranged  along  with  Gabriel's  eager  hand.  He  clutched  it 
in  an  instant,  seized  the  boat-knife,  and  impaling  the  letter  on  it, 
sent  it  thus  loaded  back  into  the  ship.  It  fell  at  Ahab's  feet. 
Then  Gabriel  shrieked  out  to  his  comrades  to  give  way  with 
their  oars,  and  in  that  manner  the  mutinous  boat  rapidly  shot 
away  from  the  Pequod. 

As,  after  this  interlude,  the  seamen  resumed  their  work  upon 


THE    MONKEY-ROPE.  355 

the  jacket  of  the  whale,  many  strange  things  were  hinted  in 
reference  to  this  wild  affair. 


CHAPTER  LXXE. 

THE  MONKEY-ROPE. 

In  the  tumultuous  business  of  cutting-in  and  attending  to  a 
whale,  there  is  much  running  backwards  and  forwards  among  the 
crew.  Now  hands  are  wanted  here,  and  then  again  hands  are 
wanted  there.  There  is  no  staying  in  any  one  place ;  for  at  one 
and  the  same  time  everything  has  to  be  done  everywhere.  It 
is  much  the  same  with  him  who  endeavors  the  description  of 
the  scene.  We  must  now  retrace  our  way  a  little.  It  was  men- 
tioned that  upon  first  breaking  ground  in  the  whale's  back,  the 
blubber-hook  was  inserted  into  the  original  hole  there  cut  by 
the  spades  of  the  mates.  But  how  did  so  clumsy  and  weighty 
a  mass  as  that  same  hook  get  fixed  in  that  hole  ?  It  was 
inserted  there  by  my  particular  friend  Queequeg,  whose  duty  it 
was,  as  harpooneer,  to  descend  upon  the  monster's  back  for  the 
special  purpose  referred  to.  But  in  very  many  cases,  circum- 
stances require  that  the  harpooneer  shall  remain  on  the  whale 
till  the  whole  flensing  or  stripping  operation  is  concluded.  The 
whale,  be  it  observed,  lies  almost  entirely  submerged,  excepting 
the  immediate  parts  operated  upon.  So  down  there,  some  ten 
feet  below  the  level  of  the  deck,  the  poor  harpooneer  flounders 
about,  half  on  the  whale  and  half  in  the  water,  as  the  vast 
mass  revolves  like  a  tread-mill  beneath  him.  On  the  occasion 
in  question,  Queequeg  figured  in  the  Highland  costume — a  shirt 
and  socks — in  which  to  my  eyes,  at  least,  he  appeared  to  un- 
common advantage ;  and  no  one  had  a  better  chance  to  observe 
him,  as  will  presently  be  seen. 

Being  the  savage's  bowsman,  that  is,  the  person  who  pulled 


356  THE    MONKEY-ROPE. 

the  bow-oar  in  his  boat  (the  second  one  from  forward),  it  was 
my  cheerful  duty  to  attend  upon  him  while  taking  that  hard- 
scrabble  scramble  upon  the  dead  whale's  back.  You  have  seen 
Italian  organ-boys  holding  a  dancing-ape  by  a  long  cord. 
Just  so,  from  the  ship's  steep  side,  did  I  hold  Queequeg  down 
there  in  the  sea,  by  what  is  technically  called  in  the  fishery  a 
monkey-rope,  attached  to  a  strong  strip  of  canvas  belted  round 
his  waist. 

It  was  a  humorously  perilous  business  for  both  of  us.  For, 
before  we  proceed  further,  it  must  be  said  that  the  monkey-rope 
was  fast  at  both  ends  ;  fast  to  Queequeg's  broad  canvas  belt, 
and  fast  to  my  narrow  leather  one.  So  that  for  better  or  for 
worse,  we  two,  for  the  time,  were  wedded ;  and  should  poor 
Queequeg  sink  to  rise  no  more,  then  both  usage  and  honor 
demanded,  that  instead  of  cutting  the  cord,  it  should  drag  me 
down  in  his  wake.  So,  then,  an  elongated  Siamese  ligature 
united  us.  Queequeg  was  my  own  inseparable  twin  brother ; 
nor  could  I  any  way  get  rid  of  the  dangerous  liabilities  which 
the  hempen  bond  entailed. 

So  strongly  and  metaphysically  did  I  conceive  of  my  situa- 
tion then,  that  while  earnestly  watching  his  motions,  I  seemed 
distinctly  to  perceive  that  my  own  individuality  was  now 
merged  in  a  joint  stock  company  of  two  :  that  my  free  will  had 
received  a  mortal  wound ;  and  that  another's  mistake  or  mis- 
fortune might  plunge  innocent  me  into  unmerited  disaster  and 
death.  Therefore,  I  saw  that  here  was  a  sort  of  interreguum  in 
Providence  ;  for  its  even-handed  equity  never  could  have  sanc- 
tioned so  gross  an  injustice.  And  yet  still  further  pondering — 
while  I  jerked  him  now  and  then  from  between  the  whale  and 
the  ship,  which  would  threaten  to  jam  him — still  further  pon- 
dering, I  say,  I  saw  that  this  situation  of  mine  was  the  precise 
situation  of  every  mortal  that  breathes ;  only,  in  most  cases,  he, 
one  way  or  other,  has  this  Siamese  connexion  with  a  plurality 
of  other  mortals.     If  your  banker  breaks,  you  snap ;  if  your 


THE    MONKEY-ROPE.  357 

apothecary  by  mistake  sends  you  poison  in  your  pills,  you  die. 
True,  you  may  say  that,  by  exceeding  caution,  you  may  possibly 
escape  these  and  the  multitudinous  other  evil  chances  of  life. 
But  handle  Queequeg's  monkey-rope  needfully  as  I  would, 
sometimes  he  jerked  it  so,  that  I  came  very  near  sliding  over- 
board. Nor  could  I  possibly  forget  that,  do  what  I  would,  I 
only  had  the  management  of  one  end  of  it.* 

I  have  hinted  that  I  would  often  jerk  poor  Queequeg  from 
between  the  whale  and  the  ship — where  he  would  occasionally 
fall,  from  the  incessant  rolling  and  swaying  of  both.  But  this 
was  not  the  only  jamming  jeopardy  he  was  exposed  to.  Unap- 
palled  by  the  massacre  made  upon  them  during  the  night,  the 
sharks  now  freshly  and  more  keenly  allured  by  the  before  pent 
blood  which  began  to  flow  from  the  carcase — the  rabid  crea- 
tures swarmed  round  it  like  bees  in  a  beehive. 

And  right  in  among  those  sharks  was  Queequeg  ;  who  often 
pushed  them  aside  with  his  floundering  feet.  A  thing  alto- 
gether incredible  were  it  not  that  attracted  by  such  prey  as  a 
dead  whale,  the  otherwise  miscellaneously  carnivorous  shark  will 
seldom  touch  a  man. 

Nevertheless,  it  may  well  be  believed  that  since  they  have 
such  a  ravenous  finger  in  the  pie,  it  is  deemed  but  wise  to  look 
sharp  to  them.  Accordingly,  besides  the  monkey-rope,  with 
which  I  now  and  then  jerked  the  poor  fellow  from  too  close  a 
vicinity  to  the  maw  of  what  seemed  a  peculiarly  fero- 
cious shark — he  was  provided  with  still  another  protection. 
Suspended  over  the  side  in  one  of  the  stages,  Tashtego  and 
Daggoo  continually  flourished  over  his  head  a  couple  of  keen 

*  The  moukey-rope  is  found  in  all  whalers ;  but  it  was  only  in  the 
Pequod  that  the  monkey  and  his  holder  were  ever  tied  together.  This 
improvement  upon  the  original  usage  was  introduced  by  no  less  a  man 
than  Stubb,  in  order  to  afford  to  the  imperilled  harpooneer  the  strongest 
possible  guarantee  for  the  faithfulness  and  vigilance  of  his  monkey-rope 
holder. 


358  THE    MONKEY-ROPE. 

whale-spades,  wherewith  they  slaughtered  as  many  sharks  as 
they  could  reach.  This  procedure  of  theirs,  to  be  sure,  was 
very  disinterested  and  benevolent  of  them.  They  meant  Quee- 
queg's  best  happiness,  I  admit ;  but  in  their  hasty  zeal  to  be- 
friend him,  and  from  the  circumstance  that  both  he  and  the 
sharks  were  at  times  half  hidden  by  the  blood-mudded  water, 
those  indiscreet  spades  of  theirs  would  come  nearer  amputating 
a  leg  than  a  tail.  But  poor  Queequeg,  I  suppose,  straining  and 
gasping  there  with  that  great  iron  hook — poor  Queequeg,  1 
suppose,  only  prayed  to  his  Yojo,  and  gave  up  his  life  into  the 
hands  of  his  gods. 

Well,  well,  my  dear  comrade  and  twin-brother,  thought  I,  as 
I  drew  in  and  then  slacked  off  the  rope  to  every  swell  of  the 
sea — what  matters  it,  after  all  ?  Are  you  not  the  precious 
image  of  each  and  all  of  us  men  in  this  whaling  world  ?  That 
unsounded  ocean  you  gasp  in,  is  Life  ;  those  sharks,  your  foes ; 
those- spades,  your  friends ;  and  what  between  sharks  and 
spades  you  are  in  a  sad  pickle  and^peril,  poor  lad. 

But  courage  !  there  is  good  cheer  in  store  for  you,  Queequeg. 
For  now,  as  with  blue  lips  and  bloodshot  eyes  the  exhausted 
savage  at  last  climbs  up  the  chains  and  stands  all  dripping  and 
involuntarily  trembling  over  the  sMe ;  the  steward  advances, 
and  with  a  benevolent,  consolatory  glance  hands  him — what  ? 
Some  hot  Cogniac  ?  No !  hands  him,  ye  gods  !  hands  him  a 
cup  of  tepid  ginger  and  water ! 

"  Ginger  ?  Do  I  smell  ginger  ?"  suspiciously  asked  Stubb, 
coming  near.  "  Yes,  this  must  be  ginger,"  peering  into  the  as 
yet  untasted  cup.  Then  standing  as  if  incredulous  for  a  while, 
he  calmly  walked  towards  the  astonished  steward  slowly  say- 
ing, "  Ginger  ?  ginger  ?  and  will  you  have  the  goodness  to  tell 
me,  Mr.  Dough-Boy,  where  lies  the  virtue  of  ginger  ?  Ginger  ! 
is  ginger  the  sort  of  fuel  you  use,  Dough-Boy,  to  kindle  a  fire 
in  this  shivering  cannibal  ?  Ginger ! — what  the  devil  is  gin- 
ger ?— sea-coal  ? — fire-wood  ? — lucifer  matches  ? — tinder  ? — gun- 


THE    MONKEY-ROPE.  359 

powder  ? — what  the  devil  is  ginger,  I  say,  that  you  offer  this 
cup  to  our  poor  Queequeg  here  ?" 

"  There  is  some  sneaking  Temperance  Society  movement 
about  this  business,"  he  suddenly  added,  now  approaching  Star- 
buck,  who  had  just  come  from  forward.  "  Will  you  look  at 
that  kannakin,  sir :  smell  of  it,  if  you  please."  Then  watch- 
ing the  mate's  countenance,  he  added :  "  The  steward,  Mr. 
Starbuck,  had  the  face  to  offer  that  calomel  and  jalap  to  Quee- 
queg, there,  this  instant  off  the  whale.  Is  the  steward  an 
apothecary,  sir  ?  and  may  I  ask  whether  this  is  the  sort  of  bit- 
ters by  which  he  blows  back  the  life  into  a  half-drowned  man  ?" 
"  I  trust  not,"  said  Starbuck,  "  it  is  poor  stuff  enough." 
"  Aye,  aye,  steward,"  cried  Stubb,  "  we'll  teach  you  to  drug  a 
harpooneer ;  none  of  your  apothecary's  medicine  here ;  you 
want  to  poison  us,  do  ye  ?  You  have  got  out  insurances  on  our 
lives  and  want  to  murder  us  all,  and  pocket  the  proceeds,  do 


Je 


?" 


"It  was  not  me,"  cried  Dough-Boy,  "it  was  Aunt  Charity 
that  brought  the  ginger  on  board ;  and  bade  me  never  give  the 
harpooneers  any  spirits,  but  only  this  ginger-jub — so  she  call- 
ed it."  . 

"  Ginger-jub  !  you  gingerly  rascal !  take  that !  and  run  along 
with  ye  to  the  lockers,  and  get  something  better.  I  hope  I  do 
no  wrong,  Mr.  Starbuck.  It  is  the  captain's  orders — grog  for 
the  harpooneer  on  a  whale." 

"  Enough,"  replied  Starbuck,  "  only  don't  hit  him  again, 
but—" 

"  Oh,  I  never  hurt  when  I  hit,  except  when  I  hit  a  whale  or 
something  of  that  sort ;  and  this  fellow's  a  weazel.  What  were 
you  about  saying,  sir  ?" 

"  Only  this :  go  down  with  him,  and  get  what  thou  wantest 
thyself." 

When  Stubb  reappeared,  he  came  with  a  dark  flask  in  one 
hand,  and  a  sort  of  tea-caddy  in  the  other.     The  first  contained 


360  A    RIGHT    WHALE    KILLED. 

strong  spirits,  and  was  handed  to  Queequeg ;  the  second  was 
Aunt  Charity's  gift,  and  that  was  freely  given  to  the  waves. 


CHAPTER  LXXHL 

6TUBB    AND    FLASK    KILL   A    RIGHT   WHALE;    AND    THEN    HAVE    A 
TALK    OVER    HIM. 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  this  time  we  have  a  Sperm 
Whale's  prodigious  head  hanging  to  the  Pequod's  side.  But 
we  must  let  it  continue  hanging  there  a  while  till  we  can  get  a 
chance  to  attend  to  it.  For  the  present  other  matters  press,  and 
the  best  we  can  do  now  for  the  head,  is  to  pray  heaven  the 
tackles  may  hold. 

Now,  during  the  past  night  and  forenoon,  the  Pequod  had 
gradually  drifted  into  a  sea,  which,  by  its  occasional  patches  of 
yellow  brit,  gave  unusual  tokens  of  the  vicinity  of  Right  Whales, 
a  species  of  the  Leviathan  that  but  few  supposed  to  be  at  this 
particular  time  lurking  anywhere  near.  And  though  all  hands 
commonly  disdained  the  capture  of  those  inferior  creatures  ;  and 
though  the  Pequod  was  not  commissioned  to  cruise  for  them  at 
all,  and  though  she  had  passed  numbers  of  them  near  the  Crozetts 
without  lowering  a  boat ;  yet  now  that  a  Sperm  Whale  had 
been  brought  alongside  and  beheaded,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  the 
announcement  was  made  that  a  Right  Whale  should  be  cap- 
tured that  day,  if  opportunity  offered. 

Nor  was  this  long  wanting.  Tall  spouts  were  seen  to  leeward ; 
and  two  boats,  Stubb's  and  Flask's,  were  detached  in  pursuit. 
Pulling  further  and  further  away,  they  at  last  became  almost 
invisible  to  the  men  at  the  mast-head.  But  suddenly  in  the 
distance,  they  saw  a  great  heap  of  tumultuous  white  water,  and 
soon  after  news  came  from  aloft  that  one  or  both  the  boats  must 


A    RIGHT    WHALE    KILLED.  3fil 

be  fast.  An  interval  passed  and  the  boats  were  in  plain  sight, 
in  the  act  of  being  dragged  right  towards  the  ship  by  the  tow- 
ing whale.  So  close  did  the  monster  come  to  the  hull,  that  at 
first  it  seemed  as  if  he  meant  it  malice ;  but  suddenly  going 
down  in  a  maelstrom,  within  three  rods  of  the  planks,  he 
wholly  disappeared  from  view,  as  if  diving  under  the  keel. 
"Cut,  cut!"  was  the  cry  from  the  ship  to  the  boats,  which,  for 
one  instant,  seemed  on  the  point  of  being  brought  with  a  deadly 
dash  against  the  vessel's  side.  But  having  plenty  of  line  yet 
in  the  tubs,  and  the  whale  not  sounding  very  rapidly,  they  paid 
out  abundance  of  rope,  and  at  the  same  time  pulled  with  all 
their  might  so  as  to  get  ahead  of  the  ship.  For  a  few  minutes 
the  struggle  was  intensely  critical ;  for  while  they  still  slacked 
out  the  tightened  line  in  one  direction,  and  still  plied  their  oars 
in  another,  the  contending  strain  threatened  to  take  them  under. 
But  it  was  only  a  few  feet  advance  they  sought  to  gain.  And 
they  stuck  to  it  till  they  did  gain  it ;  when  instantly,  a  swift 
tremor  was  felt  running  like  lightning  along  the  keel,  as  the 
strained  line,  scraping  beneath  the  ship,  suddenly  rose  to  view 
under  her  bows,  snapping  and  quivering ;  and  so  flinging  off  its 
drippings,  that  the  drops  fell  like  bits  of  broken  glass  on  the 
water,  while  the  whale  beyond  also  rose  to  sight,  and  once  more 
the  boats  were  free  to  fly.  But  the  fagged  whale  abated  his 
speed,  and  blindly  altering  his  course,  went  round  the  stern 
of  "the  ship  towing  the  two  boats  after  him,  so  that  they  per- 
formed a  complete  circuit.  '  • 

Meantime,  they  hauled  more  and  more  upon  their  lines,  till 
close  flanking  him  on  both  sides,  Stubb  answered  Flask  with 
lance  for  lance;  and  thus  round  and  round  the  Pequod  the 
battle  went,  while  the  multitudes  of  sharks  that  had  before  swum 
round  the  Sperm  Whale's  body,  rushed  to  the  fresh  blood  that, 
was  spilled,  thirstily  drinking  at  every  new  gash,  as  the  eager 
Israelites  did  at  the  new  bursting  fountains  that  poured  from  the 
emitten  rock. 

16 


36Si  A    RIGHT    WHALE    KILLED. 

At  last  his  spout  grew  thick,  and  with  a  frightful  roll  and 
vomit,  he  turned  upon  his  back  a  corpse. 

While  the  two  headsmen  were  engaged  in  making  fast  cords 
to  his  flukes,  and  in  other  ways  getting  the  mass  in  readiness 
for  towing,  some  conversation  ensued  between  them. 

"  I  wonder  what  the  old  man  wants  with  this  lump  of  foul  lard," 
said  Stubb,  not  without  some  disgust  at  the  thought  of  having 
to  do  with  so  ignoble  a  leviathan. 

"  Wants  with  it  ?"  said  Flask,  coiling  some  spare  line  in  the 
boat's  bow,  "  did  you  never  hear  that  the  ship  which  but  once 
has  a  Sperm  Whale's  head  hoisted  on  her  starboard  side,  and 
at  the  same  time  a  Right  Whale's  on  the  larboard ;  did  you 
never  hear,  Stubb,  that  that  ship  can  never  afterwards  capsize  ?" 

"  Why  not  ?" 

"  I  don't  know,  but  I  heard  that  gamboge  ghost  of  a  Fedallah 
saying  so,  and  he  seems  to  know  all  about  ships'  charms.  But  I 
sometimes  think  he'll  charm  the  ship  to  no  good  at  last.  I 
don't  half  like  that  chap,  Stubb.  Did  you  ever  notice  how  that 
tusk  of  his  is  a  sort  of  carved  into  a  snake's  head,  Stubb  ?" 

"  Sink  him  !  I  never  look  at  him  at  all ;  but  if  ever  I  get  a 
chance  of  a  dark  night,  and  he  standing  hard  by  the  bulwarks, 
and  no  one  by  ;  look  down  there,  Flask  " — pointing  into  the  sea 
with  a  peculiar  motion  of  both  hands — "  Aye,  will  I !  Flask,  I 
take  that  Fedallah  to  be  the  devil  in  disguise.  Do  you  believe 
that  cock  and  bull  story  about  his  having  been  stowed  away  on 
board  ship  ?  He's  the  devil,  I  say.  The  reason  why  you  don't 
see  his  tail,  is  because  he  tucks  it  up  out  of  sight ;  he  carries  it 
coiled  away  in  his  pocket,  I  guess.  Blast  him !  now  that  I 
think  of  it,  he's  always  wanting  oakum  to  stuff  into  the  toes 
of  his  boots." 

"  He  sleeps  in  his  boots,  don't  he  ?  He  hasn't  got  any  ham- 
mock ;  but  I've  seen  him  lay  of  nights  in  a  coil  of  rig- 
ging." 


A    RIGHT    WHALE    KILLED.  363 

"  No  doubt,  and  it's  because  of  his  cursed  tail ;  lie  coils  it 
down,  do  ye  see,  in  the  eye  of  the  rigging." 

"  What's  the  old  man  have  so  much  to  do  with  him  for  ?" 

"  Striking  up  a  swap  or  a  bargain,  I  suppose." 

"  Bargain  ?— about  what  ?" 

"  Why,  do  ye  see,  the  old  man  is  hard  bent  after  that  White 
Whale,  and  the  devil  there  is  trying  to  come  round  him,  and 
get  him  to  swap  away  his  silver  watch,  or  his  soul,  or  something 
of  that  sort,  and  then  he'll  surrender  Moby  Dick." 

"  Pooh !  Stubb,  you  are  skylarking ;  how  can  Fedallah  do 
that?" 

"  I  don't  know,  Flask,  but  the  devil  is  a  curious  chap,  and  a 
wicked  one,  I  tell  ye.  Why,  they  say  as  how  he  went  a  saun- 
tering into  the  old  flag-ship  once,  switching  his  tail  about  devilish 
easy  and  gentlemanlike,  and  inquiring  if  the  old  governor  was  at 
home.  Well,  he  was  at  home,  and  asked  the  devil  what  he 
wanted.  The  devil,,  switching  his  hoofs,  up  and  says,  •  I  want 
John.'  '  What  for  ?'  says  the  old  governor.  '  What  business  is 
that  of  yours,'  says  the  devil,  getting  mad, — '  I  want  to  use  him.' 
'  Take  him,'  says  the  governor — and  by  the  Lord,  Flask,  if  the 
devil  didn't  give  John  the  Asiatic  cholera  before  he  got  through 
with  him,  I'll  eat  this  whale  in  one  mouthful.  But  look  sharp 
— aint  you  all  ready  there  ?  Well,  then,  pull  ahead,  and  let's 
get  the  whale  alongside." 

"  I  think  I  remember  some  such  story  as  you  were  telling," 
said  Flask,  when  at  last  the  two  boats  were  slowly  advancing 
with  their  burden  towards  the  ship,  "  but  I  can't  remember 
where." 

"  Three  Spaniards  ?  Adventures  of  those  three  bloody- 
minded  soldadoes  ?  Did  ye  read  it  there,  Flask  ?  I  guess  ye 
did?" 

"No:  never  saw  such  a  book;  heard  of  it,  though.  But 
now, 'tell  me,  Stubb,  do  you  suppose  that  that  devil  you  was 


364  A    RIGHT    WHALE    KILLED. 

speaking  of  just  now,  was  the  same  you  say  is  now  on  board  the 
Pequod?" 

"  Am  I  the  same  man  that  helped  kill  this  whale  ?  Doesn't 
the  devil  live  for  ever ;  who  ever  heard  that  the  devil  was  dead  ? 
Did  you  ever  see  any  parson  a  wearing  mourning  for  the  devil  ? 
And  if  the  devil  has  a  latch-key  to  get  into  the  admiral's  cabin, 
don't  you  suppose  he  can  crawl  into  a  port-hole  ?  Tell  me  that, 
Mr.  Flask  ?" 

"  How  old  do  you  suppose  Fedallah  is,  Stubb  ?" 

"  Do  you  see  that  mainmast  there  ?"  pointing  to  the  ship ; 
"  well,  that's  the  figure  one ;  now  take  all  the  hoops  in  the 
Pequod's  hold,  and  string  'em  along  in  a  row  with  that  mast, 
for  oughts,  do  you  see ;  well,  that  wouldn't  begin  to  be  Fedal- 
lah's  age.  Nor  all  the  coopers  in  creation  couldn't  show  hoops 
enough  to  make  oughts  enough." 

"But  see  here,  Stubb,  I  thought  you  a  little  boasted  just 
now,  that  you  meant  to  give  Fedallah  a  sea-toss,  if  you  got  a 
good  chance.  Now,  if  he's  so  old  as  all  those  hoops  of  yours 
come  to,  and  if  he  is  going  to  live  for  ever,  what  good  will  it  do 
to  pitch  him  overboard — tell  me  that  ?" 

"  Give  him  a  good  ducking,  anyhow." 

"  But  he'd  crawl  back." 

"  Duck  him  again  ;  and  keep  ducking  him." 

"Suppose  he  should  take  it  into  his  head  to  duck  you, 
though — yes,  and  drown  you — what  then  ?" 

"  I  should  like  to  see  him  try  it ;  I'd  give  him  such  a  pair  of 
black  eyes  that  he  wouldn't  dare  to  show  his  face  in  the  admi- 
ral's cabin  again  for  a  long  while,  let  alone  down  in  the  orlop 
there,  where  he  lives,  and  hereabouts  on  the  upper  decks  where 
he  sneaks  so  much.  Damn  the  devil,  Flask  ;  do  you  suppose 
I'm  afraid  of  the  devil  ?  Who's  afraid  of  him,  except  the  old 
governor  who  daresn't  catch  him  and  put  him  in  double-darbies, 
as  he  deserves,  but  let's  him  go  about  kidnapping  people  ;  aye, 


A    RIGHT    WHALE    KILLED.  365 

and  signed  a  bond  with  him,  that  all  the  people  the  devil  kid- 
napped, he'd  roast  for  him  ?     There's  a  governor  !" 

"  Do  you  suppose  Fedallah  wants  to  kidnap  Captain  Ahab  ?" 

"  Do  I  suppose  it  ?  You'll  know  it  before  long,  Flask.  But 
I  am  going  now  to  keep  a  sharp  look-out  on  him  ;  and  if  I  see 
anything  very  suspicious  going  on,  I'll  just  take  him  by  the 
nape  of  his  neck,  and  say — Look  here,  Beelzebub,  you  don't  do 
it ;  and  if  he  makes  any  fuss,  by  the  Lord  I'll  make  a  grab  into 
his  pocket  for  his  tail,  take  it  to  the  capstan,  and  give  him  such 
a  wrenching  and  heaving,  that  his  tail  will  come  short  off  at  the 
stump — do  you  see ;  and  then,  I  rather  guess  when  he  finds 
himself  docked  in  that  queer  fashion,  he'll  sneak  off  without  the 
poor  satisfaction  of  feeling  his  tail  between  his  legs." 

"  And  what  will  you  do  with  the  tail,  Stubb  ?" 

"  Do  with  it  ?  Sell  it  for  an  ox  whip  when  we  get  home  ; — 
what  else  ?" 

"  Now,  do  you  mean  what  you  say,  and  have  been  saying  all 
along,  Stubb  ?" 

"  Mean  or  not  mean,  here  we  are  at  the  ship." 

The  boats  were  here  hailed,  to  tow  the  whale  on  the  larboard 
side,  where  fluke  chains  and  other  necessaries  were  already  pre- 
pared for  securing  him. 

"  Didn't  I  tell  you  so  ?"  said  Flask  ;  "  yes,  you'll  soon  see  this 
right  whale's  head  hoisted  up  opposite  that  parmacetti's." 

In  good  time,  Flask's  saying  proved  true.  As  before,  the 
Pequod  steeply  leaned  over  towards  the  sperm  whale's  head, 
now,  by  the  counterpoise  of  both  heads,  she  regained  her  even 
keel ;  though  sorely  strained,  you  may  well  believe.  So,  when 
on  one  side  you  hoist  in  Locke's  head,  you  go  over  that  way  ; 
but  now,  on  the  other  side,  hoist  in  Kant's  and  you  come  back 
again ;  but  in  very  poor  plight.  Thus,  some  minds  for  ever 
keep  trimming  boat.  Oh,  ye  foolish  !  throw  all  these  thunder- 
heads  overboard,  and  then  you  will  float  light  and  right. 

In  disposing  of  the  body  of  a  right  whale,  when  brought 


366  THE    SPERM    WHALE'S    HEAD. 

alongside  the  ship,  the  same  preliminary  proceedings  commonly 
take  place  as  in  the  case  of  a  sperm  whale ;  only,  in  the  latter 
instance,  the  head  is  cut  off  whole,  but  in  the  former  the  lips 
and  tongue  are  separately  removed  and  hoisted  on  deck,  with 
all  the  well  known  black  bone  attached  to  what  is  called  the 
crown-piece.  But  nothing  like  this,  in  the  present  case,  had 
been  done.  The  carcases  of  both  whales  had  dropped  astern ; 
and  the  head-laden  ship  not  a  little  resembled  a  mule  carrying 
a  pair  of  overburdening  panniers. 

Meantime,  Fedallah  was  calmly  eyeing  the  right  whale's  head, 
and  ever  and  anon  glancing  from  the  deep  wrinkles  there  to  the 
lines  in  his  own  hand.  And  Ahab  chanced  so  to  stand,  that 
the  Parsee  occupied  his  shadow ;  while,  if  the  Parsee's  shadow 
was  there  at  all  it  seemed  only  to  blend  with,  and  lengthen 
Ahab's.  As  the  crew  toiled  on,  Laplandish  speculations  were 
bandied  among  them,  concerning  all  these  passing  things. 


CHAPTER  LXXIV. 

THE    SPERM   WHALE'S    HEAD CONTRASTED    VIEW. 

Here,  now,  are  two  great  whales,  laying  their  heads  together ;  ■ 
let  us  join  them,  and  lay  together  our  own. 

Of  the  grand  order  of  folio  leviathans,  the  Sperm  Whale  and 
the  Right  Whale  are  by  far  the  most  noteworthy.  They  are  the 
only  whales  regularly  hunted  by  man.  To  the  Nantucketer, 
they  present  the  two  extremes  of  all  the  known  varieties  of  the 
whale.  As  the  external  difference  between  them  is  mainly 
observable  in  their  heads  ;  and  as  a  head  of  each  is  this  moment 
hanging  from  the  Pequod's  side  ;  and  as  we  may  freely  go  from 
one  to  the  other,  by  merely  stepping  across  the  deck : — where, 
I  should  like  to  know,  will  you  obtain  a  better  chance  to  study 
practical  cetology  than  here  ? 


THE    SPERM    WHALE'S    HEAD.  367 


In  the  first  place,  you  are  struck  by  the  general  contrast 
between  these  heads.  Both  are  massive  enough  in  all  conscience ; 
but  there  is  a  certain  mathematical  symmetry  in  the  Sperm 
Whale's  which  the  Right  Whale's  sadly  lacks.  There  is  more 
character  in  the  Sperm  Whale's  head.  As  you  behold  it,  you 
involuntarily  yield  the  immense  superiority  to  him,  in  point 
of  pervading  dignity.  In  the  present  instance,  too,  this  dignity 
is  heightened  by  the  pepper  and  salt  color  of  his  head  at  the 
summit,  giving  token  of  advanced  age  and  large  experience. 
In  short,  he  is  what  the  fishermen  technically  call  a  "grey- 
headed whale." 

Let  us  now  note  what  is  least  dissimilar  in  these  heads — 
namely,  the  two  most  important  organs,  the  eye  and  the  ear. 
Far  back  on  the  side  of  the  head,  and  low  down,  near  the  angle 
of  either  whale's  jaw,  if  you  narrowly  search,  you  will  at  last  see 
a  lashless  eye,  which  you  would  fancy  to  be  a  young  colt's  eye ; 
so  out  of  all  proportion  is  it  to  the  magnitude  of  the  head. 

Now,  from  this  peculiar  sideway  position  of  the  whale's  eyes, 
it  is  plain  that  he  can  never  see  an  object  which  is  exactly  ahead, 
no  more  than  he  can  one  exactly  astern.  In  a  word,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  whale's  eyes  corresponds  to  that  of  a  man's  ears ; 
and  you  may  fancy,  for  yourself,  how  it  would  fare  with  you, 
did  you  sideways  survey  objects  through  your  ears.  You  would 
find  that  you  could  only  command  some  thirty  degrees  of  vision 
in  advance  of  the  straight  side-line  of  sight ;  and  about  thirty 
more  behind  it.  If  your  bitterest  foe  were  walking  straight 
towards  you,  with  dagger  uplifted  in  broad  day,  you  would  not 
be  able  to  see  him,  any  more  than  if  he  were  stealing  upon  you 
from  behind.  In  a  word,  you  would  have  two  backs,  so  to 
speak ;  but,  at  the  same  time,  also,  two  fronts  (side  fronts)  :  for 
what  is  it  that  makes  the  front  of  a  man — what,  indeed,  but  his 
eyes? 

Moreover,  while  in  most  other  animals  that  I  can  now  think 
of,  the  eyes  are  so  planted  as  imperceptibly  to  blend  their  visual 
power,  so  as  to  produce  one  picture  and  not  two  to  the  brain ; 


368  THE    SPERM    WHALE'S    HEAD. 

the  peculiar  position  of  the  whale's  eyes,  effectually  divided  as 
they  are  by  many  cubic  feet  of  solid  head,  which  towers  between 
them  like  a  great  mountain  separating  two  lakes  in  valleys ;  this, 
of  course,  must  wholly  separate  the  impressions  which  each 
independent  organ  imparts.  The  whale,  therefore,  must  see 
one  distinct  picture  on  this  side,  and  another  distinct  picture  on 
that  side ;  while  all  between  must  be  profound  darkness  and 
nothingness  to  him.  Man  may,  in  effect,  be  said  to  look  out  on 
the  world  from  a  sentry-box  with  two  joined  sashes  for  his 
window.  But  with  the  whale,  these  two  sashes  are  separately 
inserted,  making  two  distinct  windows,  but  sadly  impairing  the 
view.  This  peculiarity  of  the  whale's  eyes  is  a  thing  always  to 
be  borne  in  mind  in  the  fishery ;  and  to  be  remembered  by  the 
reader  in  some  subsequent  scenes. 

A  curious  and  most  puzzling  question  might  be  started  con- 
cerning this  visual  matter  as  touching  the  Leviathan.  But  I 
must  be  content  with  a  hint.  So  long  as  a  man's  eyes  are  open 
in  the  light,  the  act  of  seeing  is  involuntary ;  that  is,  he  cannot 
then  help  mechanically  seeing  whatever  objects  are  before  him. 
Nevertheless,  any  one's  experience  will  teach  him,  that  though  he 
can  take  in  an  undiscriminating  sweep  of  things  at  one  glance, 
it  is  quite  impossible  for  him,  attentively,  and  completely,  to 
examine  any  two  things — however  large  or  however  small — at 
one  and  the  same  instant  of  time ;  never  mind  if  they  He  side 
by  side  and  touch  each  other.  But  if  you  now  come  to  separate 
these  two  objects,  and  surround  each  by  a  circle  of  profound 
darkness ;  then,  in  order  to  see  one  of  them,  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  bring  your  mind  to  bear  on  it,  the  other  will  be  utterly 
excluded  from  your  contemporary  consciousness.  How  is  it, 
then,  with  the  whale  ?  True,  both  his  eyes,  in  themselves,  must 
simultaneously  act;  but  is  his  brain  so  much  more  comprehen- 
sive, combining,  and  subtle  than  man's,  that  he  can  at  the  same 
moment  of  time  attentively  examine  two  distinct  prospects,  one 
on  one  side  of  him,  and  the  other  in  an  exactly  opposite  direc- 


THE    SPERM    WHALE'S    HEAD.  369 

tion  ?  If  he  can,  then  is  it  as  marvellous  a  thing  in  him,  as  if 
a  man  were  able  simultaneously  to  go  through  the  demonstra- 
tions of  two  distinct  prohlems  in  Euclid.  Nor,  strictly  inves- 
tigated, is  there  any  incongruity  in  this  comparison. 

It  may  be  but  an  idle  whim,  but  it  has  always  seemed  to  me, 
that  the  extraordinary  vacillations  of  movement  displayed  by 
some  whales  when  beset  by  three  or  four  boats ;  the  timidity 
and  liability  to  queer  frights,  so  common  to  such  whales ;  I  think 
that  all  this  indirectly  proceeds  from  the  helpless  perplexity  of 
volition,  in  which  their  divided  and  diametrically  opposite 
powers  of  vision  must  involve  them. 

But  the  ear  of  the  whale  is  full  as  curious  as  the  eye.  If  you 
are  an  entire  stranger  to  their  race,  you  might  hunt  over  these 
two  heads  for  hours,  and  never  discover  that  organ.  The  ear 
has  no  external  leaf  whatever;  and  into  the  hole  itself  you 
can  hardly  insert  a  quill,  so  wondrously  minute  is  it.  It  is 
lodged  a  little  behind  the  eye.  With  respect  to  their  ears,  this 
important  difference  is  to  be  observed  between  the  sperm  whale 
and  the  right.  While  the  ear  of  the  former  has  an  external 
opening,  that  of  the  latter  is  entirely  and  evenly  covered  over 
with  a  membrane,  so  as  to  be  quite  imperceptible  from  without. 

Is  it  not  curious,  that  so  vast  a  being  as  the  whale  should 
see  the  world  through  so  small  an  eye,  and  hear  the  thunder 
through  an  ear  which  is  smaller  than  a  hare's  ?  But  if  his  eyes 
were  broad  as  the  lens  of  Herschel's  great  telescope ;  and  his 
ears  capacious  as  the  porches  of  cathedrals ;  would  that  make 
him  any  longer  of  sight,  or  sharper  of  hearing  ?  Not  at  all. — 
Why  then  do  you  try  to  "  enlarge  "  your  mind  ?  .  Subtilize  it. 

Let  us  now  with  whatever  levers  and  steam-engines  we  have 
at  hand,  cant  over  the  sperm  whale's  head,  so  that  it  may  lie 
bottom  up  ;  then,  ascending  by  a  ladder  to  the  summit,  have  a 
peep  down  the  mouth ;  and  were  it  not  that  the  body  is  now 
completely  separated  from  it,  with  a  lantern  we  might  descend 
into  the  great  Kentucky  Mammoth  Cave  of  his  stomach.     But 

16* 


370  THE    SPERM    WHALE'S    HEAD. 

let  us  hold  on  here  by  this  tooth,  and  look  about  us  where  we 
are.  What  a  really  beautiful  and  chaste-looking  mouth !  from 
floor  to  ceiling,  lined,  or  rather  papered  with  a  glistening  white 
membrane,  glossy  as  bridal  satins. 

But  come  out  now,  and  look  at  this  portentous  lower  jaw, 
which  seems  like  the  long  narrow  lid  of  an  immense  snuff-box, 
with  the  hinge  at  one  end,  instead  of  one  side.  If  you  pry  it 
up,  so  as  to  get  it  overhead,  and  expose  its  rows  of  teeth,  it 
seems  a  terrific  portcullis  ;  and  such,  alas  !  it  proves  to  many  a 
poor  wight  in  the  fishery,  upon  whom  these  spikes  fall  with  im- 
paling force.  But  far  more  terrible  is  it  to  behold,  when 
fathoms  down  in  the  sea,  you  see  some  sulky  whale,  floating 
there  suspended,  with  his  prodigious  jaw,  some  fifteen  feet  long, 
hanging  straight  down  at  right-angles  with  his  body,  for  all  the 
world  like  a  ship's  jib-boom.  This  whale  is  not  dead ;  he  is 
only  dispirited ;  out  of  sorts,  perhaps  ;  hypochondriac  ;  and  so 
supine,  that  the  hinges  of  his  jaw  have  relaxed,  leaving  him 
there  in  that  ungainly  sort  of  plight,  a  reproach  to  all  his  tribe, 
who  must,  no  doubt,  imprecate  lock-jaws  upon  him. 

In  most  cases  this  lower  jaw — being  easily  unhinged  by  a 
practised  artist — is  disengaged  and  hoisted  on  deck  for  the  pur- 
pose of  extracting  the  ivory  teeth,  and  furnishing  a  supply  of 
that  hard  white  whalebone  with  which  the  fishermen  fashion 
all  sorts  of  curious  articles,  including  canes,  umbrella-stocks, 
and  handles  to  riding-whips. 

With  a  long,  weary  hoist  the  jaw  is  dragged  on  board,  as  if  it 
were  an  anchor ;  and  when  the  proper  time  comes — some  few 
days  after  the  other  work — Queequeg,  Daggoo,  and  Tashtego, 
being  all  accomplished  dentists,  are  set  to  drawing  teeth.  With 
a  keen  cutting-spade,  Queequeg  lances  the  gums  ;  then  the  jaw 
is  lashed  down  to  ringbolts,  and  a  tackle  being  rigged  from 
aloft,  they  drag  out  these  teeth,  as  Michigan  oxen  drag  stumps 
of  old  oaks  out  of  wild  wood-lands.  There  are  generally  forty- 
two  teeth  in  all ;  in  old  whales,  much  worn  down,  but  unde- 


THE    RIGHT    WHALE'S    HEAD.  371 


cayed  ;  nor  filled  after  our  artificial  fashion.  The  jaw  is  after- 
wards sawn  into  slabs,  and  piled  away  like  joists  for  building 
houses. 


CHAPTER  LXXV. 

THE    EIGHT    WHALE'S    HEAD. CONTRASTED  VIEW. 

Crossing  the  deck,  let  us  now  have  a  good  long  look  at  the 
Right  Whale's  head. 

As  in  general  shape  the  noble  Sperm  Whale's  head  may  be 
compared  to  a  Roman  war-chariot  (especially  in  front,  where  it 
is  so  broadly  rounded)  ;  so,  at  a  broad  view,  the  Right  Whale's 
head  bears  a  rather  inelegant  resemblance  to  a  gigantic  galliot- 
toed  shoe.  Two  hundred  years  ago  an  old  Dutch  voyager 
likened  its  shape  to  that  of  a  shoemaker's  last.  And  in  this 
same  last  or  shoe,  that  old  woman  of  the  nursery  tale,  with  the 
swarming  brood,  might  veiy  comfortably  be  lodged,  she  and 
all  her  progeny. 

But  as  you  come  nearer  to  this  great  head  it  begins  to 
assume  different  aspects,  according  to  your  point  of  view.  If 
you  stand  on  its  summit  and  look  at  these  two /-shaped  spout- 
holes,  you  would  take  the  whole  head  for  an  enormous  bass- 
viol,  and  these  spiracles,  the  apertures  in  its  sounding-board. 
Then,  again,  if  you  fix  your  eye  upon  this  strange,  crested, 
comb-like  incrustation  on  the  top  of  the  mass — this  green, 
barnacled  thing,  which  the  Greenlanders  call  tbe  "crown," 
and  the  Southern  fishers  the  "  bonnet"  of  the  Right  Whale ; 
fixing  your  eyes  solely  on  this,  you  would  take  the  head  for  the 
trunk  of  some  huge  oak,  with  a  bird's  nest  in  its  crotch.  At 
any  rate,  when  you  watch  those  live  crabs  that  nestle  here  on 
this  bonnet,  such  an  idea  will  be  almost  sure  to  occur  to  you ; 
unless,  indeed,  your  fancy  has  been  fixed  by  the  technical  term 


372  THE    RIGHT    WHALE'S     HEAD. 

"  crown"  also  bestowed  upon  it ;  in  which  case  you  will  take 
great  interest  in  thinking  how  this  mighty  monster  is  actually  a 
diademed  king  of  the  sea,  whose  green  crown  has  been  put 
together  for  him  in  this  marvellous  manner.  But  if  this  whale 
be  a  king,  he  is  a  veiy  sulky  looking  fellow  to  grace  a  diadem. 
Look  at  that  hanging  lower  lip !  what  a  huge  sulk  and  pout  is 
there !  a  sulk  and  pout,  by  carpenter's  measurement,  about 
twenty  feet  long  and  five  feet  deep  ;  a  sulk  and  pout  that  will 
yield  you  some  500  gallons  of  oil  and  more. 

A  great  pity,  now,  that  this  unfortunate  whale  should  be 
hare-lipped.  The  fissure  is  about  a  foot  across.  Probably  the 
mother  during  an  important  interval  was  sailing  down  the 
Peruvian  coast,  when  earthquakes  caused  the  beach  to  gape. 
Over  this  lip,  as  over  a  slippery  threshold,  we  now  slide  into  the 
mouth.  Upon  my  word  were  I  at  Mackinaw,  I  should  take 
this  to  be  the  inside  of  an  Indian  wigwam.  Good  Lord !  is 
this  the  road  that  Jonah  went  ?  The  roof  is  about  twelve  feet 
high,  and  runs  to  a  pretty  sharp  angle,  as  if  there  were  a  regu- 
lar ridge-pole  there ;  while  these  ribbed,  arched,  hairy  sides, 
present  us  with  those  wondrous,  half  vertical,  scimetar-shaped 
slats  of  whalebone,  say  three  hundred  on  a  side,  which  depend- 
ing from  the  upper  part  of  the  head  or  crown  bone,  form  those 
Venetian  blinds  which  have  elsewhere  been  cursorily  mentioned. 
The  edges  of  these  bones  are  fringed  with  hairy  fibres, 
through  which  the  Right  Whale  strains  the  water,  and  in  whose 
intricacies  he  retains  the  small  fish,  when  open-mouthed  he 
goes  through  the  seas  of  brit  in  feeding  time.  In  the  central 
blinds  of  bone,  as  they  stand  in  their  natural  order,  there  are 
certain  curious  marks,  curves,  hollows,  and  ridges,  whereby  some 
whalemen  calculate  the  creature's  age,  as  the  age  of  an  oak  by 
its  circular  rings.  Though  the  certainty  of  this  criterion  is  far 
from  demonstrable,  yet  it  has  the  savor  of  analogical  proba- 
bility.    At  any  rate,  if  we  yield  to   it,  we  must  grant  a  far 


THE    RIGHT    WHALE'S    HEAD.  373 

greater  age  to  the  Eight  Whale  than  at  first  glance  will  seem 
reasonable. 

In  old  times,  there  seem  to  have  prevailed  the  most  curious 
fancies  concerning  these  blinds.  One  voyager  in  Purchas  calls 
them  the  wondrous  "  whiskers"  inside  of  the  whale's  mouth  ;* 
another,  "  hogs'  bristles ;"  a  third  old  gentleman  in  Hackluyt  uses 
the  following  elegant  language  :  "  There  are  about  two  hundred 
and  fifty  fins  growing  on  each  side  of  his  upper  chop,  which  arch 
over  his  tongue  on  each  side  of  his  mouth." 

As  every  one  knows,  these  same  "hogs'  bristles,"  "fins," 
"  whiskers,"  "  blinds,"  or  whatever  you  please,  furnish  to  the  la- 
dies their  busks  and  other  stiffening  contrivances.  But  in  this 
particular,  the  demand  has  long  been  on  the  decline.  It  was  in 
Queen  Anne's  time  that  the  bone  was  in  its  glory,  the  farthin- 
gale being  then  all  the  fashion.  And  as  those  ancient  dames 
moved  about  gaily,  though  in  the  jaws  of  the  whale,  as  you 
may  say ;  even  so,  in  a  shower,  with  the  like  thoughtlessness,  do 
we  nowadays  fly  under  the  same  jaws  for  protection ;  the  um- 
brella being  a  tent  spread  over  the  same  bone. 

But  now  forget  all  about  blinds  and  whiskers  for  a  moment, 
and,  standing  in  the  Right  Whale's  mouth,  look  around  you 
afresh.  Seeing  all  these  colonnades  of  bone  so  methodically 
ranged  about,  would  you  not  think  you  were  inside  of  the  great 
Haarlem  organ,  and  gazing  upon  its  thousand  pipes  ?  For  a 
carpet  to  the  organ  we  have  a  rug  of  the  softest  Turkey — the 
tongue,  which  is  glued,  as  it  were,  to  the  floor  of  the  mouth. 
It  is  very  fat  and  tender,  and  apt  to  tear  in  pieces  in  hoisting  it 
on  deck.  This  particular  tongue  now  before  us ;  at  a  passing 
glance  I  should  say  it  was  a  six-barreler ;  that  is,  it  will  yield 
you  about  that  amount  of  oil. 

*  This  reminds  us  that  the  Right  Whale  really  has  a  sort  of  whisker, 
ur  rather  a  moustache,  consisting  of  a  few  scattered  white  hairs  on  the 
upper  part  of  the  outer  end  of  the  lower  jaw.  Sometimes  these  tufts  im- 
part a  rather  brigandish  expression  to  his  otherwise  solemn  countenance. 


374  THE    BATTERING-RAM. 

Ere  this,  you  must  have  plainly  seen  the  truth  of  what  I 
started  with — that  the  Sperm  Whale  and  the  Right  Whale  have 
almost  entirely  different  heads.  To  sum  up,  then :  in  the  Eight 
Whale's  there  is  no  great  well  of  sperm ;  no  ivory  teeth  at  all ; 
no  long,  slender  mandible  of  a  lower  jaw,  like  the  Sperm  Whale's. 
Nor  in  the  Sperm  Whale  are  there  any  of  those  blinds  of  bone ; 
no  huge  lower  lip  ;  and  scarcely  anything  of  a  tongue.  Again, 
the  Right  Whale  has  two  external  spout-holes,  the  Sperm  Whale 
only  one. 

Look  your  last,  now,  on  these  venerable  hooded  heads,  while 
they  yet  lie  together ;  for  one  will  soon  sink,  unrecorded,  in  the 
sea ;  the  other  will  not  be  very  long  in  following. 

Can  you  catch  the  expression  of  the  Sperm  Whale's  there  ? 
It  is  the  same  he  died  with,  only  some  of  the  longer  wrinkles  in 
the  forehead  seem  now  faded  away.  I  think  his  broad  brow  to 
be  full  of  a  prairie-like  placidity,  born  of  a  speculative  indiffe- 
rence as  to  death.  But  mark  the  other  head's  expression.  See 
that  amazing  lower  lip,  pressed  by  accident  against  the  vessel's 
side,  so  as  firmly  to  embrace  the  jaw.  Does  not  this  whole  head 
seem  to  speak  of  an  enormous  practical  resolution  in  facing 
death  ?  This  Right  Whale  I  take  to  have  been  a  Stoic ;  the 
Sperm  Whale,  a  Platonian,  who  might  have  taken  up  Spinoza 
in  his  latter  years. 


CHAPTER   LXXVI. 

THE    BATTERING-RAM. 


Ere  quitting,  for  the  nonce,  the  Sperm  Whale's  head,  I  would 
have  you,  as  a  sensible  physiologist,  simply — particularly  remark 
its  front  aspect,  in  all  its  compacted  collectedness.  I  would 
have  you  investigate  it  now  with  the  sole  view  of  forming  to 


THE    BATTERING-RAM.  375 

yourself  some  unexaggerated,  intelligent  estimate  of  whatever 
battering-ram  power  may  be  lodged  there.  Here  is  a  vital 
point ;  for  you  must  either  satisfactorily  settle  this  matter  with 
yourself,  or  for  ever  remain  an  infidel  as  to  one  of  the  most 
appalling,  but  not  the  less  true  events,  perhaps  anywhere  to  be 
found  in  all  recorded  history. 

You  observe  that  in  the  ordinary  swimming  position  of  the 
Sperm  Whale,  the  front  of  his  head  presents  an  almost  wholly 
vertical  plane  to  the  water ;  you  observe  that  the  lower  part  of 
that  front  slopes  considerably  backwards,  so  as  to  furnish  more 
of  a  retreat  for  the  long  socket  which  receives  the  boom-like 
lower  jaw ;  you  observe  that  the  mouth  is  entirely  under  the 
head,  much  in  the  same  way,  indeed,  as  though  your  own 
mouth  were  entirely  under  your  chin.  Moreover  you  observe 
that  the  whale  has  no  external  nose  ;  and  that  what  nose  he 
has — his  spout  hole — is  on  the  top  of  his  head ;  you  observe  that 
his  eyes  and  ears  are  at  the  sides  of  his  head,  nearly  one  third 
of  his  entire  length  from  the  front.  Wherefore,  you  must  now 
have  perceived  that  the  front  of  the  Sperm  Whale's  head  is  a 
dead,  blind  wall,  without  a  single  organ  or  tender  prominence 
of  any  sort  whatsoever.  Furthermore,  you  are  now  to  consider 
that  only  in  the  extreme,  lower,  backward  sloping  part  of  the 
front  of  the  head,  is  there  the  slightest  vestige  of  bone ;  and 
not  till  you  get  near  twenty  feet  from  the  forehead  do  you  come 
to  the  full  cranial  development.  So  that  this  whole  enormous 
boneless  mass  is  as  one  wad.  Finally,  though,  as  will  soon  be 
revealed,  its  contents  partly  comprise  the  most  delicate  oil ;  yet, 
you  are  now  to  be  apprised  of  the  nature  of  the  substance 
which  so  impregnably  invests  all  that  apparent  effeminacy.  In 
some  previous  place  I  have  described  to  you  how  the  blubber 
wraps  the  body  of  the  whale,  as  the  rind  wraps  an  orange. 
Just  so  with  the  head ;  but  with  this  difference :  about  the 
head  this  envelope,  though  not  so  thick,  is  of  a  boneless  tough- . 
ness,  inestimable  by  any  man  who  has  not  handled  it.     The 


376  THE    BATTERING-RAM. 

severest  pointed  harpoon,  the  sharpest  lance  darted  by  the 
strongest  human  arm,  impotently  rebounds  from  it.  It  is  as 
though '  the  forehead  of  the  Sperm  Whale  were  paved  with 
horses'  hoofs.     I  do  not  think  that  any  sensation  lurks  in  it. 

Bethink  yourself  also  of  another  thing.  When  two  large, 
loaded  Indiamen  chance  to  crowd  and  crush  towards  each  other 
in  the  docks,  what  do  the  sailors  do  ?  They  do  not  suspend  be- 
tween them,  at  the  point  of  coming  contact,  any  merely  hard 
substance,  like  iron  or  wood.  No,  they  hold  there  a  large, 
round  wad  of  tow  and  cork,  enveloped  in  the  thickest  and 
toughest  of  ox-hide.  That  bravely  and  uninjured  takes  the 
jam  which  would  have  snapped  all  their  oaken  handspikes 
and  iron  crow-bars.  By  itself  this  sufficiently  illustrates  the 
obvious  fact  I  drive  at.  But  supplementary  to  this,  it  has 
hypothetically  occurred  to  me,  that  as  ordinary  fish  possess  what 
is  called  a  swimming  bladder  in  them,  capable,  at  will,  of  dis- 
tension or  contraction ;  and  as  the  Sperm  Whale,  as  far  as  T 
know,  has  no  such  provision  in  him ;  considering,  too,  the 
otherwise  inexplicable  manner  in  which  he  now  depresses  his 
head  altogether  beneath  the  surface,  and  anon  swims  with  it 
high  elevated  out  of  the  water ;  considering  the  unobstructed 
elasticity  of  its  envelop ;  considering  the  unique  interior  of  his 
head ;  it  has  hypothetically  occurred  to  me,  I  say,  that  those 
mystical  lung-celled  honeycombs  there  may  possibly  have  some 
hitherto  unknown  and  unsuspected  connexion  with  the  outer 
air,  so  as  to  be  susceptible  to  atmospheric  distension  and  con- 
traction. If  this  be  so,  fancy  the  irresistibleness  of  that  might, 
to  which  the  most  impalpable  and  destructive  of  all  elements 
contributes. 

Now,  mark.  Unerringly  impelling  this  dead,  impregnable, 
uninjurable  wall,  and  this  most  buoyant  thing  within ;  there 
swims  behind  it  all  a  mass  of  tremendous  life,  only  to  be  ade- 
quately estimated  as  piled  wood  is — by  the  cord;  and  all 
obedient  to  one  volition,  as  the  smallest  insect.     So  that  when  I 


THE    GREAT    HEIDELBURGH    TUN.        377 

shall  hereafter  detail  to  you  all  the  specialities  and  concentrations 
of  potency  everywhere  lurking  in  this  expansive  monster ;  when 
I  shall  show  you  some  of  his  more  inconsiderable  braining 
feats  ;  I  trust  you  will  have  renounced  all  ignorant  incredulity, 
and  be  ready  to  abide  by  this  ;  .that  though  the  Sperm  Whale 
stove  a  passage  through  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  and  mixed  the 
Atlantic  with  the  Pacific,  you  would  not  elevate  one  hair  of 
your  eye-brow.  For  unless  you  own  the  whale,  you  are  but  a 
provincial  and  sentimentalist  in  Truth.  But  clear  Truth  is  a 
thing  for  salamander  giants  only  to  encounter  ;  how  small  the 
chances  for  the  provincials  then  ?  What  befel  the  weakling 
youth  lifting  the  dread  goddess's  veil  at  Lais  ? 


CHAPTER  LXXVII. 

THE    GREAT    HEIDELBURGH   TUN. 

Now  comes  the  Baling  of  the  Case.  But  to  comprehend  it 
aright,  you  must  know  something  of  the  curious  internal  struc- 
ture of  the  thing  operated  upon. 

Regarding  the  Sperm  Whale's  head  as  a  solid  oblong,  you 
may,  on  an  inclined  plane,  sideways  divide  it  into  two  quoins,* 
whereof  the  lower  is  the  bony  structure,  forming  the  cranium 
and  jaws,  and  the  upper  an  unctuous  mass  wholly  free  from 
bones ;  its  broad  forward  end  forming  the  expanded  vertical 
apparent  forehead  of  the  whale.  At  the  middle  of  the  forehead 
horizontally  subdivide  this  upper  quoin,  and  then  you  have  two 

*  Quoin  is  not  a  Euclidean  term.  It  belongs  to  the  pure  nautical 
mathematics.  I  know  not  that  it  has  been  defined  before.  A  quoin  is  a 
solid  which  differs  from  a  wedge  in  having  its  sharp  end  formed  by  the 
steep  inclination  of  one  side,  instead  of  the  mutual  tapering  of  both  sides. 


378        THE     GREAT    HEIDELBURGH    TUN. 

almost  equal  parts,  which  before  were  naturally  divided  by  an 
internal  wall  of  a  thick  tendinous  substance. 

The  lower  subdivided  part,  called  the  junk,  is  one  immense 
honeycomb  of  oil,  formed  by  the  crossing  and  re-crossing,  into 
ten  thousand  infiltrated  cells,  of  tough  elastic  white  fibres 
throughout  its  whole  extent.  The  upper  part,  known  as  the 
Case,  may  be  regarded  as  the  great  Heidelburgh  Tun  of  the 
Sperm  Whale.  And  as  that  famous  great  tierce  is  mystically 
carved  in  front,  so  the  whale's  vast  plaited  forehead  forms  innu- 
merable strange  devices  for  the  emblematical  adornment  of  his 
wondrous  tun.  Moreover,  as  that  of  Heidelburgh  was  always 
replenished  with  the  most  excellent  of  the  wines  of  the  Rhenish 
valleys,  so  the  tun  of  the  whale  contains  by  far  the  most  pre- 
cious of  all  his  oily  vintages  ;  namely,  the  highly-prized  sper- 
maceti, in  its  absolutely  pure,  limpid,  and  odoriferous  state. 
Nor  is  this  precious  substance  found  unalloyed  in  any  other  part 
of  the  creature.  Though  in  life  it  remains  perfectly  fluid,  yet, 
upon  exposure  to  the  air,  after  death,  it  soon  begins  to  concrete ; 
sending  forth  beautiful  crystalline  shoots,  as  when  the  first  thin 
delicate  ice  is  just  forming  in  water.  A  large  whale's  case 
generally  yields  about  five  hundred  gallons  of  sperm,  though 
from  unavoidable  circumstances,  considerable  of  it  is  spilled, 
leaks,  and  dribbles  away,  or  is  otherwise  irrevocably  lost  in  the 
ticklish  business  of  securing  what  you  can. 

I  know  not  with  what  fine  and  costly  material  the  Heidel- 
burgh Tun  was  coated  within,  but  in  superlative  richness  that 
coating  could  not  possibly  have  compared  with  the  silken  pearl- 
colored  membrane,  like  the  lining  of  a  fine  pelisse,  forming  the 
inner  surface  of  the  Sperm  Whale's  case. 

It  will  have  been  seen  that  the  Heidelburgh  Tun  of  the  Sperm 
Whale  embraces  the  entire  length  of  the  entire  top  of  the  head ; 
and  since — as  has  been  elsewhere  set  forth — the  head  embraces 
one  third  of  the  whole  length  of  the  creature,  then  setting  that 
length  down  at  eighty  feet  for  a  good  sized  whale,  you  have  more 


CISTERN    AND    BUCKETS.  379 

than  twenty-six  feet  for  the  depth  of  the  tun,  when  it  is  length- 
wise hoisted  up  and  down  against  a  ship's  side. 

As  in  decapitating  the  whale,  the  operator's  instrument  is 
brought  close  to  the  spot  where  an  entrance  is  subsequently 
forced  into  the  spermaceti  magazine ;  he  has,  therefore,  to  be 
uncommonly  heedful,  lest  a  careless,  untimely  stroke  should 
invade  the  sanctuary  and  wastingly  let  out  its  invaluable  con- 
tents. It  is  this  decapitated  end  of  the  head,  also,  which  is  at 
last  elevated  out  of  the  water,  and  retained  in  that  position  by 
the  enormous  cutting  tackles,  whose  hempen  combinations,  on 
one  side,  make  quite  a  wilderness  of  ropes  in  that  quarter. 

Thus  much  being  said,  attend  now,  I  pray  you,  to  that  mar- 
vellous and — in  this  particular  instance — almost  fata,  operation 
whereby  the  Sperm  "Whale's  great  Heidelburgh  Tun  is  tapped. 


CHAPTER  LXXVIH. 

CISTERN    AND    BUCKETS. 

Nimble  as  a  cat,  Tashtego  mounts  aloft ;  and  without  altering 
his  erect  posture,  runs  straight  out  upon  the  overhanging  main- 
yard-arm,  to  the  part  where  it  exactly  projects  over  the  hoisted 
Tun.  He  has  carried  with  him  a  light  tackle  called  a  whip, 
consisting  of  only  two  parts,  travelling  through  a  single-sheaved 
block.  Securing  this  block,  so  that  it  hangs  down  from  the 
yard-arm,  he  swings  one  end  of  the  rope,  till  it  is  caught  and 
firmly  held  by  a  hand  on  deck.  Then,  hand-over-hand,  down 
the  other  part,  the  Indian  drops  through  the  air,  till  dexterously 
he  lands  on  the  summit  of  the  head.  There — still  high  elevated 
above  the  rest  of  the  company,  to  whom  he  vivaciously  cries — 
he  seems  some  Turkish  Muezzin  calling  the  good  people  to 
prayers  from  the  top  of  a  tower.     A  short-handled  sharp  spade 


380  CISTERN    AND    BUCKETS. 

being  sent  up  to  him,  he  diligently  searches  for  the  proper  place 
to  begin  breaking  into  the  Tun.  In  this  business  he  proceeds 
very  needfully,  like  a  treasure-hunter  in  some  old  house,  sound- 
ing the  walls  to  find  where  the  gold  is  masoned  in.  By  the  time 
this  cautious  search  is  over,  a  stout  iron-bound  bucket,  precisely 
like  a  well-bucket,  has  been  attached  to  one  end  of  the  whip  ; 
while  the  other  end,  being  stretched  across  the  deck,  is  there 
held  by  two  or  three  alert  hands.  These  last  now  hoist  the 
bucket  within  grasp  of  the  Indian,  to  whom  another  person  has 
reached  up  a  veiy  long  pole.  Inserting  this  pole  into  the 
bucket,  Tashtego  downward  guides  the  bucket  into  the  Tun, 
till  it  entirely  disappears ;  then  giving  the  word  to  the  seamen 
at  the  whip,  up  comes  the  bucket  again,  all  bubbling  like  a 
dairy-maid's  pail  of  new  milk.  Carefully  lowered  from  its 
height,  the  full-freighted  vessel  is  caught  by  an  appointed  hand, 
and  quickly  emptied  into  a  large  tub.  Then  re-mounting  aloft, 
it  again  goes  through  the  same  round  until  the  deep  cistern 
will  yield  no  more.  Towards  the  end,  Tashtego  has  to  ram  his 
long  pole  harder  and  harder,  and  deeper  and  deeper  into  the 
Tun,  until  some  twenty  feet  of  the  pole  have  gone  down. 

Now,  the  people  of  the  Pequod  had  been  baling  some  time 
in  this  way ;  several  tubs  had  been  filled  with  the  fragrant  sperm ; 
when  all  at  once  a  queer  accident  happened.  Whether  it  was 
that  Tashtego,  that  wild  Indian,  was  so  heedless  and  reckless 
as  to  let  go  for  a  moment  his  one-handed  hold  on  the  great 
cabled  tackles  suspending  the  head ;  or  whether  the  place  where 
he  stood  was  so  treacherous  and  oozy ;  or  whether  the  Evil  One 
himself  would  have  it  to  fall  out  so,  without  stating  his  particu- 
lar reasons ;  how  it  was  exactly,  there  is  no  telling  now ;  but, 
on  a  sudden,  as  the  eightieth  or  ninetieth  bucket  came  suckingly 
up — my  God  !  poor  Tashtego — like  the  twin  reciprocating 
bucket  in  a  veritable  well,  dropped  head-foremost  down  into  this 
great  Tun  of  Heidelburgh,  and  with  a  horrible  oily  gurgling, 
went  clean  out  of  sight ! 


CISTERN    AND    BUCKETS.  381 

"  Man  overboard !"  cried  Daggoo,  who  amid  the  general  con- 
sternation first  came  to  his  senses.  "  Swing  the  bucket  this 
way ! "  and  putting  one  foot  into  it,  so  as  the  better  to  secure 
his  slippery  hand-hold  on  the  whip  itself,  the  hoisters  ran  him 
high  up  to  the  top  of  the  head,  almost  before  Tashtego  could 
have  reached  its  interior  bottom.  Meantime,  there  was  a 
terrible  tumult.  Looking  over  the  side,  they  saw  the  before  life- 
less head  throbbing  and  heaving  just  below  the  surface  of  the 
sea,  as  if  that  moment  seized  with  some  momentous  idea ; 
whereas  it  was  only  the  poor  Indian  unconsciously  revealing  by 
those  struggles  the  perilous  depth  to  which  he  had  sunk. 

At  this  instant,  while  Daggoo,  on  the  summit  of  the  head, 
was  clearing  the  whip — which  had  somehow  got  foul  of  the 
great  cutting  tackles — a  sharp  cracking  noise  was  heard  ;  and  to 
the  unspeakable  horror  of  all,  one  of  the  two  enormous  hooks  sus- 
pending the  head  tore  out,  and  with  a  vast  vibration  the  enor- 
mous mass  sideways  swung,  till  the  drunk  ship  reeled  and  shook 
as  if  smitten  by  an  iceberg.  The  one  remaining  hook,  upon 
which  the  entire  strain  now  depended,  seemed  every  instant  to 
be  on  the  point  of  giving  way ;  an  event  still  more  likely  from 
the  violent  motions  of  the  head. 

"  Come  down,  come  down  ! "  yelled  the  seamen  to  Daggoo, 
but  with  one  hand  holding  on  to  the  heavy  tackles,  so  that  if 
the  head  should  drop,  he  would  still  remain  suspended ;  the 
negro  having  cleared  the  foul  line,  rammed  down  the  bucket 
into  the  now  collapsed  well,  meaning  that  the  buried  harpooneer 
should  grasp  it,  and  so  be  hoisted  out. 

"  In  heaven's  name,  man,"  cried  Stubb,  "  are  you  ramming 
home  a  cartridge  there  ? — Avast !  How  will  that  help  him  ; 
jamming  that  iron-bound  bucket  on  top  of  his  head  ?  Avast, 
will  ye!" 

"  Stand  clear  of  the  tackle  ! "  cried  a  voice  like  the  bursting 
of  a  rocket. 

Almost  in  the  same  instant,  with  a  thunder-boom,  the  enor- 


382  CISTERN    AND    BUCKETS. 

mous  mass  dropped  into  the  sea,  like  Niagara's  Table-Rock  into 
the  whirlpool ;  the  suddenly  relieved  hull  rolled  away  from  it, 
to  far  down  her  glittering  copper ;  and  all  caught  their  breath, 
as  half  swinging — now  over  the  sailors'  heads,  and  now  over  the 
water — Daggoo,  through  a  thick  mist  of  spray,  was  dimly 
beheld  clinging  to  the  pendulous  tackles,  while  poor,  buried- 
alive  Tashtego  was  sinking  utterly  down  to  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  !  But  hardly  had  the  blinding  vapor  cleared  away,  when  a 
naked  figure  with  a  boarding-sword  in  its  hand,  was  for  one 
swift  moment  seen  hovering  over  the  bulwarks.  The  next,  a 
loud  splash  announced  that  my  brave  Queequeg  had  dived  to 
the  rescue.  One  packed  rush  was  made  to  the  side,  and  every 
eye  counted  every  ripple,  as  moment  followed  moment,  and  no 
sign  of  either  the  sinker  or  the  diver  could  be  seen.  Some 
hands  now  jumped  into  a  boat  alongside,  and  pushed  a  little  off 
from  the  ship. 

"  Ha  !  ha !"  cried  Daggoo,  all  at  once,  from  his  now  quiet, 
swinging  perch  overhead;  and  looking  further  off  from  the 
side,  we  saw  an  arm  thrust  upright  from  the  blue  waves ;  a 
sight  strange  to  see,  as  an  arm  thrust  forth  from  the  grass  over 
a  grave. 

"  Both !  both ! — it  is  both  !" — cried  Daggoo  again  with  a 
joyful  shout ;  and  soon  after,  Queequeg  was  seen  boldly  strik- 
ing out  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other  clutching  the  long 
hair  of  the  Indian.  Drawn  into  the  waiting  boat,  they  were 
quickly  brought  to  the  deck ;  but  Tashtego  was  long  in  coming 
to,  and  Queequeg  did  not  look  very  brisk. 

Now,  how  had  this  noble  rescue  been  accomplished  ?  Why, 
diving  after  the  slowly  descending  head,  Queequeg  with  his 
keen  sword  had  made  side  lunges  near  its  bottom,  so  as  to 
scuttle  a  large  hole  there ;  then  dropping  his  sword,  had  thrust 
his  long  arm  far  inwards  and  upwards,  and  so  hauled  out  our 
poor  Tash  by  the  head.  He  averred,  that  upon  first  thrusting 
in  for  him,  a  leg  was  presented  ;  but  well  knowing  that  that 


CISTERN    AND    BUCKETS.  383 

was  not  as  it  ought  to  be,  and  might  occasion  great  trouble ; — 
he  had  thrust  back  the  leg,  and  by  a  dexterous  heave  and  toss, 
had  wrought  a  somerset  upon  the  Indian ;  so  that  with  the 
next  trial,  he  came  forth  in  the  good  old  way — head  foremost. 
As  for  the  great  head  itself,  that  was  doing  as  well  as  could  be 
expected. 

And  thus,  through  the  courage  and  great  skill  in  obstetrics 
of  Queequeg,  the  deliverance,  or  rather,  delivery  of  Tashtego, 
was  successfully  accomplished,  in  the  teeth,  too,  of  the  most 
untoward  and  apparently  hopeless  impediments ;  which  is  a 
lesson  by  no  means  to  be  forgotten.  Midwifery  should  be 
taught  in  the  same  course  with  fencing  and  boxing,  riding  and 
rowing.  % 

I  know  that  this  queer  adventure  of  the  Gay-Header's  will 
be  sure  to  seem  incredible  to  some  landsmen,  though  they 
themselves  may  have  either  seen  or  heard  of  some  one's  falling 
into  a  cistern  ashore ;  an  accident  which  not  seldom  happens, 
and  with  much  less  reason  too  than  the  Indian's,  considering 
the  exceeding  slipperiness  of  the  curb  of  the  Sperm  Whale's 
well. 

But,  perad venture,  it  may  be  sagaciously  urged,  how  is 
this  ?  We  thought  the  tissued,  infiltrated  head  of  the  Sperm 
Whale,  was  the  lightest  and  most  corky  part  about  him  ;  and 
yet  thou  makest  it  sink  in  an  element  of  a  far  greater  specific 
gravity  than  itself.  We  have  thee  there.  Not  at  all,  but  I 
have  ye ;  for  at  the  time  poor  Tash  fell  in,  the  case  had  been 
nearly  emptied  of  its  lighter  contents,  leaving  little  but  the 
dense  tendinous  wall  of  the  well — a  double  welded,  hammered 
substance,  as  I  have  before  said,  much  heavier  than  the  sea 
water,  and  a  lump  of  which  sinks  in  it  like  lead  almost.  But 
the  tendency  to  rapid  sinking  in  this  substance  was  in  the  pre- 
sent instance  materially  counteracted  by  the  other  parts  of  the 
head  remaining  undetached  from  it,  so  that  it  sank  very  slowly 
and  deliberately  indeed,  affording  Queequeg  a  fair  chance  for 


384  THE    PR  AIRE. 


performing  his  agile  obstetrics  on  the  run,  as  you  may  say. 
Yes,  it  was  a  running  delivery,  so  it  was. 

Now,  had  Tashtego  perished  in  that  head,  it  had  been  a  very 
precious  perishing  ;  smothered  in  the  very  whitest  and  daintiest 
of  fragrant  spermaceti ;  coffined,  hearsed,  and  tombed  in  the 
secret  inner  chamber  and  sanctum  sanctorum  of  the  whale. 
Only  one  sweeter  end  can  readily  be  recalled — the  delicious 
death  of  an  Ohio  honey-hunter,  who  seeking  honey  in  the 
crotch  of  a  hollow  tree,  found  such  exceeding  store  of  it,  that 
leaning  too  far  over,  it  sucked  him  in,  so  that  he  died  em- 
balmed. How  many,  think  ye,  have  likewise  fallen  into  Plato's 
honey  head,  and  sweetly  perished  there  ? 


CHAPTER  LXXIX. 

THE      PRAIRE. 

To  scan  the  lines  of  his  face,  or  feel  the  bumps  on  the 
head  of  this  Leviathan  ;  this  is  a  thing  which  no  Physiognomist 
or  Phrenologist  has  as  yet  undertaken.  Such  an  enterprise' 
would  seem  almost  as  hopeful  as  for  Lavater  to  have  scrutinized 
the  wrinkles  on  the  Rock  of  Gibraltar,  or  for  Gall  to  have 
mounted  a  ladder  and  manipulated  the  Dome  of  the  Pantheon. 
Still,  in  that  famous  work  of  his,  Lavater  not  only  treats  of  the 
various  faces  of  men,  but  also  attentively  studies  the  faces  of 
.  horses,  birds,  serpents,  and  fish ;  and  dwells  in'  detail  upon  the 
modifications  of  expression  discernible  therein.  Nor  have  Gall 
and  his  disciple  Spurzheim  failed  to  throw  out  some  hints  touch- 
ing the  phrenological  characteristics  of  other  beings  than  man. 
Therefore,  though  I  am  but  ill  qualified  for  a  pioneer,  in  the  ap- 
plication of  these  two  semi-sciences  to  the  whale,  I  will  do  my 
endeavor.     I  try  all  things  ;  I  achieve  what  I  can. 


THE    PR  AIRE.  385 


Physiognomically  regarded,  the  Sperm  Whale  is  an 
anomalous  creature.  He  has  no  proper  nose.  And  since  the 
nose  is  the  central  and  most  conspicuous  of  the  features ;  and 
since  it  perhaps  most  modifies  and  finally  controls  their  combined 
expression  ;  hence  it  would  seem  that  its  entire  absence,  as  an 
external  appendage,  must  very  largely  affect  the  countenance 
of  the  whale.  For  as  in  landscape  gardening,  a  spire,  cupola, 
monument,  or  tower  of  some  sort,  is  deemed  almost  indispensa- 
ble to  the  completion  of  the  scene  ;  so  no  face  can  be  physiog- 
nomically in  keeping  without  the  elevated  open-work  belfry  of 
the  nose.  Dash  the  nose  from  Phidias's  marble  Jove,  and  what 
a  sorry  remainder !  Nevertheless,  Leviathan  is  of  so  mighty  a 
magnitude,  all  his  proportions  are  so  stately,  that  the  same  de- 
ficiency which  in  the  sculptured  Jove  were  hideous,  in  him  is 
no  blemish  at  all.  Nay,  it  is  an  added  grandeur.  A  nose  to 
the  whale  would  have  been  impertinent.  As  on  your  physiog- 
nomical voyage  you  sail  round  his  vast  head  in  your  jolly-boat, 
your  noble  conceptions  of  him  are  never  insulted  by  the  reflec- 
tion that  he  has  a  nose  to  be  pulled.  A  pestilent  conceit,  which 
so  often  will  insist  upon  obtruding  even  when  beholding  the 
mightiest  royal  beadle  on  his  throne. 

In  some  particulars,  perhaps  the  most  imposing  physiog- 
nomical view  to  be  had  of  the  Sperm  Whale,  is  that  of  the  full 
front  of  his  head.     This  aspect  is  sublime. 

In  thought,  a  fine  human  brow  is  like  the  East  when 
troubled  with  the  morning.  In  the  repose  of  the  pasture,  the 
curled  brow  of  the  bull  has  a  touch  of  the  grand  in  it.  Push- 
ing heavy  cannon  up  mountain  defiles,  the  elephant's  brow  is 
majestic.  Human  or  animal,  the  mystical  brow  is  as  that  great 
golden  seal  affixed  by  the  German  emperors  to  their  decrees. 
It  signifies — "  God  :  done  this  day  by  my  hand."  But  in  most 
creatures,  nay  in  man  himself,  very  often  the  brow  is  but  a 
mere  strip  of  alpine  land  lying  along  the  snow  line.  Few  are 
the  foreheads  which  like  Shakspeare's  or  Melancthon's   rise  so 

17 


386  THE    PR  A  I  RE, 


high,  and  descend  so  low,  that  the  eyes  themselves  seem  clear, 
eternal,  tideless  mountain  lakes ;  and  all  above  them  in  the 
forehead's  wrinkles,  you  seem  to  track  the  antlered  thoughts 
descending  there  to  drink,  as  the  Highland  hunters  track  the 
snow  prints  of  the  deer.  But  in  the  great  Sperm  Whale,  this 
high  and  mighty  god-like  dignity  inherent  in  the  brow  is  so 
immensely  amplified,  that  gazing  on  it,  in  that  full  front  view, 
you  feel  the  Deity  and  the  dread  powers  more  forcibly  than  in 
beholding  any  other  object  in  living  nature.  For  you  see  no 
one  point  precisely ;  not  one  distinct  feature  is  revealed ;  no 
nose,  eyes,  ears,  or  mouth  ;  no  face  ;  he  has  none,  proper ;  nothing 
but  that  one  broad  firmament  •  of  a  forehead,  pleated  with 
riddles ;  dumbly  lowering  with  the  doom  of  boats,  and  ships, 
and  men.  Nor,  in  profile,  does  this  wondrous  brow  diminish ; 
though  that  way  viewed,  its  grandeur  does  not  domineer  upon 
you  so.  In  profile,  you  plainly  perceive  that  horizontal,  semi- 
crescentic  depression  in  the  forehead's  middle,  which,  in  man,  is 
Lavater's  mark  of  genius. 

But  how  ?  Genius  in  the  Sperm  Whale  ?  Has  the  Sperm 
Whale  ever  written  a  book,  spoken  a  speech  ?  No,  his  great 
genius  is  declared  in  his  doing  nothing  particular  to  prove  it. 
It  is  moreover  declared  in  his  pyramidical  silence.  And  this 
reminds  me  that  had  the  great  Sperm  Whale  been  known  to 
the  young  Orient  World,  he  would  have  been  deified  by  their 
child-magian  thoughts.  They  deified  the  crocodile  of  the  Nile, 
because  the  crocodile  is  tongueless  ;  and  the  Sperm  Whale  has 
no  tongue,  or  at  least  it  is  so  exceedingly  small,  as  to  be  inca- 
pable of  protrusion.  If  hereafter  any  highly  cultured,  poetical 
nation  shall  lure  back  to  their  birth-right,  the  merry  May-day 
gods  of  old ;  and  livingly  enthrone  them  again  in  the  now 
egotistical  sky  ;  in  the  now  unhaunted  hill ;  then  be  sure,  ex- 
alted to  Jove's  high  seat,  the  great  Sperm  Whale  shall  lord  it. 

Champollion  deciphered  the  wrinkled  granite  hieroglyphics. 
But  there  is  no  Champollion  to  decipher  the  Egypt  of  every 


THE    NUT.  387 


man's  and  every  being's  face.  Physiognomy,  like  every  other 
human  science,  is  but  a  passing  fable.  If  then,  Sir  William 
Jones,  who  read  in  thirty  languages,  could  not  read  the  simplest 
peasant's  face  in  its  profounder  and  more  subtle  meanings,  how 
may  unlettered  Ishmael  hope  to  read  the  awful  Chaldee  of  the 
Sperm  Whale's  brow  ?  I  but  put  that  brow  before  you.  Read 
it  if  you  can. 


CHAPTER  LXXX. 

THE     NUT. 

If  the  Sperm  Whale  be  physiognomically  a  Sphinx,  to  the 
phrenologist  his  brain  seems  that  geometrical  circle  which  it  is 
impossible  to  square. 

In  the  full-grown  creature  the  skull  will  measure  at  least 
twenty  feet  in  length.  Unhinge  the  lower  jaw,  and  the  side 
view  of  this  skull  is  as  the  side  view  of  a  moderately  inclined 
plane  resting  throughout  on  a  level  base.  But  in  life — as  we 
have  elsewhere  seen — this  inclined  plane  is  angularly  filled  up, 
and  almost  squared  by  the  enormous  superincumbent  mass  of 
the  junk  and  sperm.  At  the  high  end  the  skull  forms  a  crater 
to  bed  that  part  of  the  mass ;  while  under  the  long  floor  of  this 
crater — in  another  cavity  seldom  exceeding  ten  inches  in  length 
and  as  many  in  depth — reposes  the  mere  handful  of  this  mon- 
ster's brain.  The  brain  is  at  least  twenty  feet  from  his  apparent 
forehead  in  life ;  it  is  hidden  away  behind  its  vast  outworks,  like 
the  innermost  citadel  within  the  amplified  fortifications  of 
Quebec.  So  like  a  choice  casket  is  it  secreted  in  him,  that  I 
have  known  some  whalemen  who  peremptorily  deny  that  the 
Sperm  Whale  has  any  other  brain  than  that  palpable  semblance 
of  one  formed  by  the  cubic-yards  of  his  sperm  magazine.  Lying 
in  strange  folds,  courses,  and  convolutions,  to  their  apprehen- 


388  THE    NUT. 

sions,  it  seems  more  in  keeping  with  the  idea  of  his  general 
might  to  regard  that  mystic  part  pf  him  as  the  seat  of  his  intel- 
ligence. 

It  is  plain,  then,  that  phrenologically  the  head  of  this  Levia- 
than, in  the  creature's  living  intact  state,  is  an  entire  delusion. 
As  for  his  true  brain,  you  can  then  see  no  indications  of  it,  nor 
feel  any.  The  whale,  like  all  things  that  are  mighty,  wears  a 
false  bow  to  the  common  world. 

If  you  unload  his  skull  of  its  spermy  heaps  and  then  take  a 
rear  view  of  its  rear  end,  which  is  the  high  end,  you  will  be 
struck  by  its  resemblance  to  the  human  skull,  beheld  in  the 
same  situation,  and  from  the  same  point  of  view.  Indeed,  place 
this  reversed  skull  (scaled  down  to  the  human  magnitude) 
among  a  plate  of  men's  skulls,  and  you  would  involuntarily  con- 
found it  with  them ;  and  remarking  the  depressions  on  one 
part  of  its  summit,  in  phrenological  phrase  you  would  say — 
This  man  had  no  self-esteem,  and  no  veneration.  And  by  those 
negations,  considered  along  with  the  affirmative  fact  of  his  pro- 
digious bulk  and  power,  you  can  best  form  to  yourself  the 
truest,  though  not  the  most  exhilarating  conception  of  what  the 
most  exalted  potency  is. 

But  if  from  the  comparative  dimensions  of  the  whale's  proper 
brain,  you  deem  it  incapable  of  being  adequately  charted,  then 
I  have  another  idea  for  you.  If  you  attentively  regard  almost 
any  quadruped's  spine,  you  will  be  struck  with  the  resemblance 
of  its  vertebra?  to  a  strung  necklace  of  dwarfed  skulls,  all  bear- 
ing rudimental  resemblance  to  the  skull  proper.  It  is  a  German 
conceit,  that  the  vertebrae  are  absolutely  undeveloped  skulls. 
But  the  curious  external  resemblance,  I  take  it  the  Germans  were 
not  the  first  men  to  perceive.  A  foreign  friend  once  pointed  it  out 
to  me,  in  the  skeleton  of  a  foe  he  had  slain,  and  with  the  vertebrae 
of  which  he  was  inlaying,  in  a  sort  of  basso-relievo,  the  beaked 
prow  of  his  canoe.  Now,  I  consider  that  the  phrenologists  have 
omitted  an  important  thing  in  not  pushing  their  investigations 


THE    NUT.  3P9 


from  the  cerebellum  through,  the  spinal  canal.  For  I  believe 
that  much  of  a  man's  character  will  be  found  betokened  in  his 
backbone.  I  would  rather  feel  your  spine  than  your  skull, 
whoever  you  are.  A  thin  joist  of  a  spine  never  yet  upheld  a 
full  and  noble  soul.  I  rejoice  in  my  spine,  as  in  the  firm  auda- 
cious staff  of  that  flag  which  I  fling  half  out  to  the  world. 

Apply  this  spinal  branch  of  phrenology  to  the  Sperm  "Whale. 
His  cranial  cavity  is  continuous  with  the  first  neck-vertebra ; 
and  in  that  vertebra  the  bottom  of  the  spinal  canal  will  measure 
ten  inches  across,  being  eight  in  height,  and  of  a  triangular 
figure  with  the  base  downwards.  As  it  passes  through  the 
remaining  vertebrae  the  canal  tapers  in  size,  but  for  a  consider- 
able distance  remains  of  large  capacity.  Now,  of  course,  this 
canal  is  filled  with  much  the  same  strangely  fibrous  substance — 
the  spinal  cord — as  the  brain ;  and  directly  communicates  with 
the  brain.  And  what  is  still  more,  for  many  feet  after  emerg- 
ing from  the  brain's  cavity,  the  spinal  cord  remains  of  an  unde- 
creasing  girth,  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  brain.  Under  all 
these  circumstances,  would  it  be  unreasonable  to  survey  and 
map  out  the  whale's  spine  phrenologically  ?  For,  viewed  in  this 
light,  the  wonderful  comparative  smallness  of  his  brain  proper 
is  more  than  compensated  by  the  wonderful  comparative  magni- 
tude of  his  spinal  cord. 

But  leaving  this  hint  to  operate  as  it  may  with  the  phreno- 
logists, I  would  merely  assume  the  spinal  theory  for  a  moment, 
in  reference  to  the  Sperm  Whale's  hump.  This  august  hump, 
if  I  mistake  not,  rises  over  one  of  the  larger  vertebra?,  and  is, 
therefore,  in  some  sort,  the  outer  convex  mould  of  it.  From  its 
relative  situation  then,  I  should  call  this  high  hump  the  organ 
of  firmness  or  indomitableness  in  the  Sperm  Whale.  And  that 
the  great  monster  is  indomitable,  you  will  yet  have  reason  to 
know. 


390  THE    VIRGIN. 


CHAPTER  LXXXI. 

THE    PEQUQD    MEETS    THE   VIRGIN". 

The  predestinated  day  arrived,  and  we  duly  met  the  snip 
Jungfrau,  Derick  De  Deer,  master,  of  Bremen. 

At  one  time  the  greatest  whaling  people  in  the  world,  the 
Dutch  and  Germans  are  now  among  the  least ;  but  here  and 
there  at  very  wide  intervals  of  latitude  and  longitude,  you  still 
occasionally  meet  with  their  flag  in  the  Pacific. 

For  some  reason,  the  Jungfrau  seemed  quite  eager  to  pay 
her  respects.  While  yet  some  distance  from  the  Pequod,  she 
rounded  to,  and  dropping  a  boat,  her  captain  was  impelled 
towards  us,  impatiently  standing  in  the  bows  instead  of  the 
stern. 

"  What  has  he  in  his  hand  there  ?"  cried  Starbuck,  pointing 
to  something  wavingly  held  by  the  German.  "  Impossible  ! — 
a  lamp-feeder !" 

"  Not  that,"  said  Stubb,  "  no,  no,  it's  a  coffee-pot,  Mr.  Star- 
buck  ;  he's  coming  on0  to  make  us  our  coffee,  is  the  Yarman  ; 
don't  you  see  that  big  tin  can  there  alongside  of  him  ? — that's 
his  boiling  water.     Oh  !  he's  all  right,  is  the  Yarman." 

"  Go  along  with  you,"  cried  Flask,  "  it's  a  lamp-feeder  and 
an  oil-can.     He's  out  of  oil,  and  has  come  a-begging." 

However  curious  it  may  seem  for  an  oil-ship  to  be  borrowing 
oil  on  the  whale-ground,  and  however  much  it  may  invertedly 
contradict  the  old  proverb  about  carrying  coals  to  Newcastle, 
yet  sometimes  such  a  thing  really  happens  ;  and  in  the  present 
case  Captain  Derick  De  Deer  did  indubitably  conduct  a  lamp- 
feeder  as  Flask  did  declare. 

As  he  mounted  the  deck,  Ahab  abruptly  accosted  him,  with- 
out at  all  heeding  what  he  had  in  his  hand  ;  but  in  his  broken 


THE    VIRGIN.  391 


lingo,  the  German  soon  evinced  his  complete  ignorance  of  the 
White  Whale ;  immediately  turning  the  conversation  to  his 
lamp-feeder  and  oil  can,  with  some  remarks  touching  his  hav- 
ing to  turn  into  his  hammock  at  night  in  profound  darkness — 
his  last  drop  of  Bremen  oil  being  gone,  and  not  a  single  flying- 
fish  yet  captured  to  supply  the  deficiency ;  concluding  by 
hinting  that  his  ship  was  indeed  what  in  the  Fishery  is  techni- 
cally called  a  clean  one  (that  is,  an  empty  one),  well  deserving 
the  name  of  Jungfrau  or  the  Virgin. 

His  necessities  supplied,  Derick  departed ;  but  he  had  not 
gained  his  ship's  side,  when  whales  were  almost  simultaneously 
raised  from  the  mast-heads  of  both  vessels ;  and  so  eager  for 
the  chase  was  Derick,  that  without  pausing  to  put  his  oil-can 
and  lamp-feeder  aboard,  he  slewed  round  his  boat  and  made 
after  the  leviathan  lamp-feeders. 

Now,  the  game  having  risen  to  leeward,  he  and  the  other 
three  German  boats  that  soon  followed  him,  had  considerably 
the  start  of  the  Pequod's  keels.  There  were  eight  whales,  an 
average  pod.  Aware  of  their  danger,  they  were  going  all 
abreast  with  great  speed  straight  before  the  wind,  rubbing 
their  flanks  as  closely  as  so  many  spans  of  horses  in  harness. 
They  left  a  great,  wide  wake,  as  though  continually  unrolling  a 
great  wide  parchment  upon  the  sea. 

Full  in  this  rapid  wake,  and  many  fathoms  in  the  rear,  swam 
a  huge,  humped  old  bull,  which  by  his  comparatively  slow 
progress,  as  well  as  by  the  unusual  yellowish  incrustations  over- 
growing him,  seemed  afflicted  with  the  jaundice,  or  some  other 
infii-mity.  Whether  this  whale  belonged  to  the  pod  in 
advance,  seemed  questionable  ;  for  it  is  not  customary  for  such 
venerable  leviathans  to  be  at  all  social.  Nevertheless,  he  stuck 
to  their  wake,  though  indeed  their  back  water  must  have 
retarded  him,  because  the  white-bone  or  swell  at  his  broad 
muzzle  was  a  dashed  one,  like  the  swell  formed  when  two  hos- 
tile currents  meet.     His  spout  was  short,  slow,  and  laborious ; 


392  THE    VIRGIN. 


coining  forth  with  a  choking  sort  of  gush,  and  spending  itself 
in  torn  shreds,  followed  by  strange  subterranean  commotions  in 
him,  which  seemed  to  have  egress  at  his  other  buried  extremity, 
causing  the  waters  behind  him  to  upbubble. 

"  Who's  got  some  paregoric  ?"  said  Stubb,  "  he  has  the 
stomach-ache,  I'm  afraid.  Lord,  think  of  having  half  an  acre 
of  stomach-ache  !  Adverse  winds  are  holding  mad  Christmas 
in  him,  boys.  It's  the  first  foul  wind  I  ever  knew  to  blow  from 
astern ;  but  look,  did  ever  whale  yaw  so  before  ?  it  must  be,  he's 
lost  his  tiller." 

As  an  overladen  Indiaman  bearing  down  the  Hindostan 
coast  with  a  deck  load  of  frightened  horses,  careens,  buries, 
rolls,  and  wallows  on  her  way ;  so  did  this  old  whale  heave  his 
aged  bulk,  and  now  and  then  partly  turning  over  on  his  cum- 
brous rib-ends,  expose  the  cause  of  his  devious  wake  in  the 
unnatural  stump  of  his  starboard  fin.  Whether  he  had  lost 
that  fin  in  battle,  or  had  been  born  without  it,  it  were  hard  to 
say. 

"  Only  wait  a  bit,  old  chap,  and  I'll  give  ye  a  sling  for  that 
wounded  arm,"  cried  cruel  Flask,  pointing  to  the  whale-line 
near  him. 

"  Mind  he  don't  sling  thee  with  it,"  cried  Starbuck.  "  Give 
way,  or  the  German  will  have  him." 

With  one  intent  all  the  combined  rival  boats  were  pointed 
for  this  one  fish,  because  not  only  was  he  the  largest,  and  there- 
fore the  most  valuable  whale,  but  he  was  nearest  to  them,  and 
the  other  whales  were  going  with  such  great  velocity,  moreover, 
as  almost  to  defy  pursuit  for  the  time.  At  this  juncture,  the 
Pequod's  keels  had  shot  by  the  three  German  boats  last  low- 
ered ;  but  from  the  great  start  he  had  had,  Derick's  boat  still 
led  the  chase,  though  every  moment  neared  by  his  foreign 
rivals.  The  only  thing  they  feared,  was,  that  from  being 
already  so  nigh  to  his  mark,  he  would  be  enabled  to  dart  his 
iron  before  they  could  completely  overtake  and  pass  him.     As 


THE    VIRGIN.  393 


for  Derick,  he  seemed  quite  confident  that  this  would  be  the 
case,  and  occasionally  with  a  deriding  gesture  shook  his  lamp- 
feeder  at  the  other  boats. 

"  The  ungracious  and  ungrateful  dog  ! "  cried  Starbuck  ;  "  he 
mocks  and  dares  me  with  the  very  poor-box  I  filled  for  him  not 
five  minutes  ago  ! " — then  in  his  old  intense  whisper — "  give 
way,  greyhounds  !     Dog  to  it ! " 

"  I  tell  ye  what  it  is,  men" — cried  Stubb  to  his  crew — "  It's 
against  my  religion  to  get  mad ;  but  I'd  like  to  eat  that  villa- 
nous  Yarman — Pull — wont  ye  ?  Are  ye  going  to  let  that  rascal 
beat  ye  ?  Do  ye  love  brandy  ?  A  hogshead  of  brandy,  then, 
to  the  best  man.  Come,  why  don't  some  of  ye  burst  a  blood- 
vessel ?  Who's  that  been  dropj>ing  an  anchor  overboard — we 
don't  budge  an  inch — we're  becalmed.  Halloo,  here's  grass 
growing  in  the  boat's  bottom — and  by  the  Lord,  the  mast 
there's  budding.  This  won't  do,  boys.  Look  at  that  Yarman  ! 
The  short  and  long  of  it  is,  men,  will  ye  spit  fire  or  not  ? " 

"  Oh  !  see  the  suds  he  makes  ! "  cried  Flask,  dancing  up  and 
down — "  What  a  hump — Oh,  do  pile  on  the  beef — lays  like  a 
log  !  Oh  !  my  lads,  do  spring — slap-jacks  and  quohogs  for  sup- 
per, you  know,  my  lads — baked  clams  and  muffins — oh,  do,  do, 
spring — he's  a  hundred  barreler — don't  lose  him  now — don't, 
oh,  don't  ! — see  that  Yarman — Oh  !  won't  ye  pull  for  your  duff, 
my  lads — such  a  sog !  such  a  sogger  !  Don't  ye  love  sperm  ? 
There  goes  three  thousand  dollars,  men  ! — a  bank  ! — a  whole 
bank !  The  bank  of  England ! — Oh,  do,  do,  do  ! — What's  that 
Yarman  about  now  ? " 

At  this  moment  Derick  was  in  the  act  of  pitching  his  lamp- 
feeder  at  the  advancing  boats,  and  also  his  oil-can  ;  perhaps  with 
the  double  view  of  retarding  his  rivals'  way,  and  at  the  same  time 
economically  accelerating  his  own  by  the  momentary  impetus 
of  the  backward  toss. 

"  The  unmannerly  Dutch  dogger  ! "  cried  Stubb.  "  Pull  now, 
men,  like  fifty  thousand  line-of-battle-ship  loads  of  red-haired 

17* 


394  THE    VIRGIN. 

devils.  What  d'ye  say,  Tashtego ;  are  you  the  man  to  snap 
your  spine  in  two-and-twenty  pieces  for  the  honor  of  old  Gay- 
head  ?     What  d'ye  say  ? " 

"  I  say,  pull  like  god-dam," — cried  the  Indian. 

Fiercely,  but  evenly  incited  by  the  taunts  of  the  German,  the 
Pequod's  three  boats  now  began  ranging  almost  abreast ;  and,  so 
disposed,  momentarily  neared  him.  In  that  fine,  loose,  chival- 
rous attitude  of  the  headsman  when  drawing  near  to  his  prey, 
the  three  mates  stood  up  proudly,  occasionally  backing  the  after 
oarsman  with  an  exhilarating  cry  of,  "  There  she  slides,  now  ! 
Hurrah  for  the  white-ash  breeze  !  Down  with  the  Yarman  ! 
Sail  over  him  ! " 

But  so  decided  an  original  start  had  Derick  had,  that  spite 
of  all  their  gallantry,  he  would  have  proved  th }  victor  in  this 
race,  had  not  a  righteous  judgment  descended  upon  him  in  a 
crab  which  caught  the  blade  of  his  midship  oarsman.  While 
this  clumsy  lubber  was  striving  to  free  his  white-ash,  and  while, 
in  consequence,  Derick's  boat  was  nigh  to  capsizing,  and  he 
thundering  away  at  his  men  in  a  mighty  rage ; — that  was  a 
good  time  for  Starbuck,  Stubb,  and  Flask.  With  a  shout,  they 
took  a  mortal  start  forwards,  and  slantingly  ranged  up  on  the 
German's  quarter.  An  instant  more,  and  all  four  boats  were 
diagonically  in  the  whale's  immediate  wake,  while  stretching 
from  them,  on  both  sides,  was  the  foaming  swell  that  he  made. 

It  was  a  terrific,  most  pitiable,  and  maddening  sight.  The 
whale  was  now  going  head  out,  and  sending  his  spout'  before 
him  in  a  continual  tormented  jet ;  while  his  one  poor  fin  beat 
his  side  in  an  agony  of  fright.  Now  to  this  hand,  now  to  that, 
he  yawed  in  his  faltering  flight,  and  still  at  every  billow  that  he 
broke,  he  spasmodically  sank  in  the  sea,  or  sideways  rolled 
towards  the  sky  his  one  beating  fin.  So  have  I  seen  a  bird  with 
clipped  wing,  making  affrighted  broken  circles  in  the  air,  vainly 
striving  to  escape  the  piratical  hawks.  But  the  bird  has  a 
voice,  and  with  plaintive  cries  will  make  known  her  fear ;  but 


THE    VIRGIN.  395 

the  fear  of  this  vast  dumb  brute  of  the  sea,  was  chained  up  and 
euchanted  in  him  ;  he  had  no  voice,  save  that  choking  respira- 
tion through  his  spiracle,  and  this  made  the  sight  of  him 
unspeakably  pitiable ;  while  still,  in  his  amazing  bulk,  portcul- 
lis jaw,  and  omnipotent  tail,  there  was  enough  to  appal  the 
stoutest  man  who  so  pitied. 

Seeing  now  that  but  a  very  few  moments  more  would  give 
the  Pequod's  boats  the  advantage,  and  rather  than  be  thus 
foiled  of  his  game,  Derick  chose  to  hazard  what  to  him  must 
have  seemed  a  most  unusually  long  dart,  ere  the  last  chance 
would  for  ever  escape. 

But  no  sooner  did  his  harpooneer  stand  up  for  the  stroke, 
than  all  three  tigers — Queequeg,  Tashtego,  Daggoo — instinc- 
tively sprang  to  their  feet,  and  standing  in  a  diagonal  row, 
simultaneously  pointed  their  barbs  ;  and  darted  over  the  head  of 
the  German  harpooneer,  their  three  Nantucket  irons  entered  the 
whale.  Blinding  vapors  of  foam  and  white-fire  !  The  three 
boats,  in  the  first  fury  of  the  whale's  headlong  rush,  bumped  the 
German's  aside  with  such  force,  that  both  Derick  and  his 
baffled  harpooneer  were  spilled  out,  and  sailed  over  by  the  three 
flying  keels. 

"  Don't  be  afraid,  my  butter-boxes,"  cried  Stubb,  casting  a 
passing  glance  upon  them  as  he  shot  by ;  "  ye'U  be  picked  up 
presently — all  right — I  saw  some  sharks  astern — St.  Bernard's 
dogs,  you  know — relieve  distressed  travellers.  Hurrah  !  this  is 
the  way  to  sail  now.  Every  keel  a  sun-beam  !  Hurrah  ! — 
Here  we  go  like  three  tin  kettles  at  the  tail  of  a  mad  cougar  ! 
This  puts  me  in  mind  of  fastening  to  an  elephant  in  a  tilbury 
on  a  plain — makes  the  wheel-spokes  fly,  boys,  when  you  fasten 
to  him  that  way  ;  and  there's  danger  of  being  pitched  out  too, 
when  you  strike  a  hill.  Hurrah  !  this  is  the  way  a  fellow  feels 
when  he's  going  to  Davy  Jones — all  a  rush  down  an  endless 
inclined  plane  !  Hurrah !  this  whale  carries  the  everlasting 
mail!" 


396  THE    VIRGIN. 


Eut  the  monster's  run  was  a  brief  one.  Giving  a  sudden 
gasp,  he  tumultuously  sounded.  With  a  grating  rush,  the 
three  lines  flew  round  the  loggerheads  with  such  a  force  as  to 
gouge  deep  grooves  in  them  ;  while  so  fearful  were  the  harpoon- 
eers  that  this  rapid  sounding  would  soon  exhaust  the  lines,  that 
using  all  their  dexterous  might,  they  caught  repeated  smoking 
turns  with  the  rope  to  hold  on ;  till  at  last — owing  to  the  per- 
pendicular strain  from  the  lead-lined  chocks  of  the  boats,  whence 
the  three  ropes  went  straight  down  into  the  blue — the  gunwales 
of  the  bows  were  almost  even  with  the  water,  while  the  three 
sterns  tilted  high  in  the  air.  And  the  whale  soon  ceasing  to 
sound,  for  some  time  they  remained  in  that  attitude,  fearful  of 
expending  more  line,  though  the  position  was  a  little  ticklish. 
But  though  boats  have  been  taken  down  and  lost  in  this  way, 
yet  it  is  this  "  holding  on,"  as  it  is  called  ;  this  hooking  up  by 
the  sharp  barbs  of  his  live  flesh  from  the  back  ;  this  it  is  that 
often  torments  the  Leviathan  into  soon  rising  again  to  meet  the 
sharp  lance  of  his  foes.  Yet  not  to  speak  of  the  peril  of  the 
thing,  it  is  to  be  doubted  whether  this  course  is  always  the  best ; 
for  it  is  but  reasonable  to  presume,  that  the  longer  the  stricken 
whale  stays  under  water,  the  more  he  is  exhausted.  Because, 
owing  to  the  enormous  surface  of  him — in  a  full  grown  sperm 
whale  something  less  than  2000  square  feet — the  pressure  of  the 
water  is  immense.  We  all  know  what  an  astonishing  atmo- 
spheric weight  we  ourselves  stand  up  under  ;  even  here,  above- 
ground,  in  the  air ;  how  vast,  then,  the  burden  of  a  whale,  bear- 
ing on  his  back  a  column  of  two  hundred  fathoms  of  ocean  ! 
It  must  at  least  equal  the  weight  of  fifty  atmospheres.  One 
whaleman  has  estimated  it  at  the  weight  of  twenty  line-of-battle 
ships,  with  all  their  guns,  and  stores,  and  men  on  board. 

As  the  three  boats  lay  there  on  that  gently  rolling  sea,  gazing 
down  into  its  eternal  blue  noon  ;  and  as  not'  a  single  groan  or 
cry  of  any  sorf,  nay,  not  so  much  as  a  ripple  or  a  bubble  came 
up  from  its  depths ;  what  landsman  would  have  thought,  that 


THE    VIRGIN.  397 


beneath  all  that  silence  and  placidity,  the  utmost  monster  of  the 
seas  was  writhing  and  wrenching  in  agony!  Not  eight  inches 
of  perpendicular  rope  were  visible  at  the  bows.  Seems  it  credi- 
ble that  by  three  such  thin  threads  the  great  Leviathan  was 
suspended  like  the  big  weight  to  an  eight  day  clock.  Sus- 
pended ?  and  to  what  ?  To  three  bits  of  board.  Is  this  the 
creature  of  whom  it  was  once  so  triumphantly  said — "  Canst 
thou  fill  bis  skin  with  barbed  irons?  or  his  head  with  fish- 
spears  ?  The  sword  of  him  that  layeth  at  him  cannot  hold, 
the  spear,  the  dart,  nor  the  habergeon :  he  esteemeth  iron  as 
straw ;  the  arrow  cannot  make  him  flee ;  darts  are  counted  as 
stubble;  he  laugheth  at  the  shaking  of  a  spear!"  This  the 
creature  ?  this  he  ?  Oh  !  that  unfulfilments  should  follow  the 
prophets.  For  with  the  strength  of  a  thousand  thighs  in  his 
tail,  Leviathan  had  run  his  head  under  the  mountains  of  the 
sea,  to  hide  him  from  the  Pequod's  fish-spears ! 

In  that  sloping  afternoon  sunlight,  the  shadows  that  the  three 
boats  sent  down  beneath  the  surface,  must  have  been  long 
enough  and  broad  enough  to  shade  half  Xerxes'  army.  Who 
can  tell  how  appalling  to  the  wounded  whale  must  have  been 
such  huge  phantoms  flitting  over  his  head ! 

"  Stand  by,  men  ;  he  stirs,"  cried  Starbuck,  as  the  three  lines 
suddenly  vibrated  in  the  water,  distinctly  conducting  upwards 
to  them,  as  by  magnetic  wires,  the  life  and  death  throbs  of  the 
whale,  so  that  every  oarsman  felt  them  in  his  seat.  The  next 
moment,  relieved  in  great  part  from  the  downward  strain  at  the 
bows,  the  boats  gave  a  sudden  bounce  upwards,  as  a  small  ice- 
field will,  when  a  dense  herd  of  white  bears  are  scared  from  it 
into  the  sea. 

"  Haul  in !     Haul  in !"  cried  Starbuck  again ;  "  he's  rising." 

The  lines,  of  which,  hardly  an  instant  before,  not  one  hand's 
breadth  could  have  been  gained,  were  now  in  long  quick  coils 
flung  back  all  dripping  into  the  boats,  and  soon  the  whale  broke 
water  within  two  ship's  lengths  of  the  hunters. 


398  THE    VIRGIN. 


His  motions  plainly  denoted  his  extreme  exhaustion.  In 
most  land  animals  there  are  certain  valves  or  flood-gates  in  many 
of  their  veins,  whereby  when  wounded,  the  blood  is  in  some 
degree  at  least  instantly  shut  off  in  certain  directions.  Not  so 
with  the  whale ;  one  of  whose  peculiarities  it  is,  to  have  an 
entire  non-valvular  structure  of  the  blood-vessels,  so  that  when 
pierced  even  by  so  small  a  point  as  a  harpoon,  a  deadlj*  drain  is 
at  once  begun  upon  his  whole  arterial  system ;  and  when  this  is 
heightened  by  the  extraordinary  pressure  of  water  at  a  great 
distance  below  the  surface,  his  life  may  be  said  to  pour  from  him 
in  incessant  streams.  Yet  so  vast  is  the  quantity  of  blood  in 
him,  and  so  distant  and  numerous  its  interior  fountains,  that  he 
will  keep  thus  bleeding  and  bleeding  for  a  considerable  period ; 
even  as  in  a  drought  a  river  will  flow,  whose  source  is  in  the  well- 
springs  of  far-off  and  undiscernible  hills.  Even  now,  when 
the  boats  pulled  upon  this  whale,  and  perilously  drew  over  his 
swaying  flukes,  and  the  lances  were  darted  into  him,  they  were 
followed  by  steady  jets  from  the  new  made  wound,  which  kept 
continually  playing,  while  the  natural  spout-hole  in  his  head  was 
only  at  intervals,  however  rapid,  sending  its  affrighted  moisture 
into  the  air.  From  this  last  vent  no  blood  yet  came,  because 
no  vital  part  of  him  had  thus  far  been  struck.  His  life,  as  they 
significantly  call  it,  was  untouched. 

As  the  boats  now  more  closely  surrounded  him,  the  whole 
upper  part  of  his  form,  with  much  of  it  that  is  ordinarily  sub- 
merged, was  plainly  revealed.  His  eyes,  or  rather  the  places 
where  his  eyes  had  been,  were  beheld.  As  strange  misgrown 
masses  gather  in  the  knot-holes  of  the  noblest  oaks  when  pros- 
trate, so  from  the  points  which  the  whale's  eyes  had  once 
occupied,  now  protruded  blind  bulbs,  horribly  pitiable  to  see. 
But  pity  there  was  none.  For  all  his  old  age,  and  his  one  arm, 
and  his  blind  eyes,  he  must  die  the  death  and  be  murdered,  in 
order  to  light  the  gay  bridals  and  other  merry-makings  of  men, 
and  also  to  illuminate  the  solemn  churches  that  preach  uncon- 


THE    VIRGIN.  399 


ditional  inoffensiveness  by  all  to  all.  Still  rolling  in  his  blood, 
at  last  he  partially  disclosed  a  strangely  discolored  bunch  or 
protuberance,  the  size  of  a  bushel,  low  down  on  the  flank. 

"A  nice  spot,"  cried  Flask;  "just  let  me  prick  hirn  there 
once." 

"  Avast !"  cried  Starbuck,  "  there's  no  need  of  that !" 

But  humane  Starbuck  was  too  late.  At  the  instant  of  the 
dart  an  ulcerous  jet  shot  from  this  cruel  wound,  and  goaded  by 
it  into  more  than  sufferable  anguish,  the  whale  now  spouting 
thick  blood,  with  swift  fury  blindly  darted  at  the  craft,  bespat- 
tering them  and  their  glorying  crews  all  over  with  showers  of 
gore,  capsizing  Flask's  boat  and  marring  the  bows.  It  was  his 
death  stroke.  For,  by  this  time,  so  spent  was  he  by  loss  of 
blood,  that  he  helplessly  rolled  away  from  the  wreck  he  had 
made ;  lay  panting  on  his  side,  impotently  flapped  with  his 
stumped  fin,  then  over  and  over  slowly  revolved  like  a  waning 
world ;  turned  up  the  white  secrets  of  his  belly ;  lay  like  a  log, 
and  died.  It  was  most  piteous,  that  last  expiring  spout.  As 
when  by  unseen  hands  the  water  is  gradually  drawn  off  from 
some  mighty  fountain,  and  with  half-stifled  melancholy  gur- 
glings the  spray-column  lowers  and  lowers  to  the  ground — so 
the  last  long  dying  spout  of  the  whale. 

Soon,  while  the  crews  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  ship, 
the  body  showed  symptoms  of  sinking  with  all  its  treasures 
unrifled.  Immediately,  by  Starbuck's  orders,  lines  were  secured 
to  it  at  different  points,  so  that  ere  long  every  boat  was  a  buoy ; 
the  sunken  whale  being  suspended  a  few  inches  beneath  them 
by  the  cords.  By  very  heedful  management,  when  the  ship 
drew  nigh,  the  whale  was  transferred  to  her  side,  and  was 
strongly  secured  there  by  the  stiffest  fluke-chains,  for  it  was 
plain  that  unless  artificially  upheld,  the  body  would  at  once 
sink  to  the  bottom. 

It  so  chanced  that  almost  upon  first  cutting  into  him  with 
the  spade,  the  entire  length  of  a  corroded  harpoon  was  found 


400  THE    VIRGIN. 


imbedded  in  his  flesh,  on  the  lower  part  of  the  bunch  before  de- 
scribed. But  as  the  stumps  of  harpoons  are  frequently  found 
in  the  dead  bodies  of  captured  whales,  with  the  flesh  perfectly 
healed  around  them,  and  no  prominence  of  any  kind  to  denote 
their  place  ;  therefore,  there  must  needs  have  been  some  other 
unknown  reason  in  the  present  case  fully  to  account  for  the 
ulceration  alluded  to.  But  still  more  curious  was  the  fact  of  a 
lance-head  of  stone  being  found  in  him,  not  far  from  the  buried 
iron,  the  flesh  perfectly  firm  about  it.  Who  had  darted  that 
stone  lance  ?  And  when  ?  It  might  have  been  darted  by  some 
Nor'  West  Indian  long  before  America  was  discovered. 

What  other  marvels  might  have  been  rummaged  out  of  this 
monstrous  cabinet  there  is  no  telling.  But  a  sudden  stop  was 
put  to  further  discoveries,  by  the  ship's  being  unprecedentedly 
dragged  over  sideways  to  the  sea,  owing  to  the  body's  im- 
mensely increasing  tendency  to  sink.  However,  Starbuck,  who 
had  the  ordering  of  affairs,  hung  on  to  it  to  the  last ;  hung  on 
to  it  so  resolutely,  indeed,  that  when  at  length  the  ship  would 
have  been  capsized,  if  still  persisting  in  locking  arms  with  the 
body  ;  then,  when  the  command  was  given  to  break  clear  from 
it,  such  was  the  immovable  strain  upon  the  timber-heads  to 
which  the  fluke-chains  and  cables  were  fastened,  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  cast  them  off.  Meantime  everything  in  the  Pequod 
was  aslant.  To  cross  to  the  other  side  of  the  deck  was  like 
walking  up  the  steep  gabled  roof  of  a  house.  The  ship  groaned 
and  gasped.  Many  of  the  ivory  inlayings  of  her  bulwarks  and 
cabins  were  started  from  their  places,  by  the  unnatural  disloca- 
tion. In  vain  handspikes  and  crows  were  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  immovable  fluke-chains,  to  pry  them  adrift  from  the  timber- 
heads  ;  and  so  low  had  the  whale  now  settled  that  the  sub- 
merged ends  could  not  be  at  all  approached,  while  every  moment 
whole  tons  of  ponderosity  seemed  added  to  the  sinking  bulk, 
and  the  ship  seemed  on  the  point  of  going  over. 

"Hold  on,  hold  on,  won't  ye?"  cried  Stubb  to  the  body, 


THE    VIRGIN.  401 


"  don't  be  in  such  a  devil  of  a  hurry  to  sink !  By  thunder, 
men,  we  must  do  something  or  go  for  it.  No  use  prying 
there ;  avast,  I  say  with  your  handspikes,  and  run  one  of  ye 
for  a  prayer  book  and  a  pen-knife,  and  cut  the  big  chains." 

"Knife?  Aye,  aye,"  cried  Queequeg,  and  seizing  the 
carpenter's  heavy  hatchet,  he  leaned  out  of  a  porthole,  and 
steel  to  iron,  began  slashing  at  the  largest  fluke-chains.  But  a 
few  strokes,  full  of  sparks,  were  given,  when  the  exceeding  strain 
effected  the  rest.  With  a  terrific  snap,  every  fastening  went 
adrift ;  the  ship  righted,  the  carcase  sank. 

Now,  this  occasional  inevitable  sinking  of  the  recently  killed 
Sperm  Whale  is  a  very  curious  thing ;  nor  has  any  fisherman 
yet  adequately  accounted  for  it.  Usually  the  dead  Sperm 
Whale  floats  with  great  buoyancy,  with  its  side  or  belly  con- 
siderably elevated  above  the  surface.  If  the  only  whales  that 
thus  sank  were  old,  meagre,  and  broken-hearted  creatures,  their 
pads  of  lard  diminished  and  all  their  bones  heavy  and  rheumatic ; 
then  you  might  with  some  reason  assert  that  this  sinking  is 
caused  by  an  uncommon  specific  gravity  in  the  fish  so  sinking, 
consequent  upon  this  absence  of  buoyant  matter  in  him.  But 
it  is  not  so.  For  young  whales,  in  the  highest  health,  and 
swelling  with  noble  aspirations,  prematurely  cut  off  in  the  warm 
flush  and  May  of  life,  with  all  their  panting  lard  about  them  ; 
even  these  brawny,  buoyant  heroes  do  sometimes  sink. 

Be  it  said,  however,  that  the  Sperm  Whale  is  far  less  liable 
to  this  accident  than  any  other  species.  Where  one  of  that 
sort  go  down,  twenty  Right  Whales  do.  This  difference  in  the 
species  is  no  doubt  imputable  in  no  small  degree  to  the  greater 
quantity  of  bone  in  the  Right  Whale;  his  Venetian  blinds 
alone  sometimes  weighing  more  than  a  ton;  from  this  in- 
cumbrance the  Sperm  Whale  is  wholly  free.  But  there  are 
instances  where,  after  the  lapse  of  many  hours  or  several  days,  the 
sunken  whale  again  rises,  more  buoyant  than  in  life.  But  the 
reason  of  this  is   obvious.     Gases  are  generated  in  him ;  he 


402    THE  HONOR  AND  GLORY  OF  WHALING. 

swells  to  a  prodigious  magnitude ;  becomes  a  sort  of  animal 
balloon.  A  line-of-battle  ship  could  hardly  keep  him  under 
then.  In  the  Shore  Whaling,  on  soundings,  among  the  Bays 
of  New  Zealand,  when  a  Right  Whale  gives  token  of  sinking, 
they  fasten  buoys  to  him,  with  plenty  of  rope ;  so  that  when 
the  body  has  gone  down,  they  know  where  to  look  for  it  when 
it  shall  have  ascended  again.  ' 

It  was  not  long  after  the  sinking  of  the  body  that  a  cry  was 
heard  from  the  Pequod's  mast-heads,  announcing  that  the 
Jungfrau  was  again  lowering  her  boats  ;  though  the  only  spout 
in  sight  was  that  of  a  Fin-Back,  belonging  to  the  species  of 
uncapturable  whales,  because  of  its  incredible  power  of  swim- 
ming. Nevertheless,  the  Fin-Back's  spout  is  so  similar  to  the 
Sperm  Whale's,  that  by  unskilful  fishermen  it  is  often  mistaken 
for  it.  And  consequently  Derick  and  all  his  host  were  now  in 
valiant  chase  of  this  unnearable  brute.  The  Virgin  crowding 
all  sail,  made  after  her  four  young  keels,  and  thus  they  all  dis- 
appeared far  to  leeward,  still  in  bold,  hopeful  chase. 

Oh  !  many  are  the  Fin-Backs,  and  many  are  the  Dericks,  my 
friend. 


CHAPTER  LXXXII. 

THE    HONOE   AND    GLORY    OF    WHALING. 

There  are  some  enterprises  in  which  a  careful  disorderliness 
is  the  true  method. 

The  more  I  dive  into  this  matter  of  whaling,  and  push  my 
researches  up  to  the  very  spring-head  of  it,  so  much  the  more 
am  I  impressed  with  its  great  honorableness  and  antiquity ;  and 
especially  when  I  find  so  many  great  demi-gods  and  heroes, 
prophets  of  all  sorts,  who  one  way  or  other  have  shed  distinc- 
tion upon  it,  I  am  transported  with  the  reflection  that  I  myself 


THE  HONOR  AND  GLORY  OF  WHALING.    403 

belong,    though  but  subordinately,  to  so  emblazoned  a   fra- 
ternity. 

The  gallant  Perseus,  a  son  of  Jupiter,  was  the  first  whaleman  ; 
and  to  the  eternal  honor  of  our  calling  be  it  said,  that  the  first 
whale  attacked  by  our  brotherhood  Avas  not  killed  with  any 
sordid  intent.  Those  wrere  the  knightly  days  of  our  profession, 
when  we  only  bore  arms  to  succor  the  distressed,  and  not  to  fill 
men's  lamp-feeders.  Every  one  knows  the  fine  story  of  Perseus 
and  Andromeda ;  how  the  lovely  Andromeda,  the  daughter  of 
a  king,  was  tied  to  a  rock  on  the  sea-coast,  and  as  Leviathan 
was  in  the  very  act  of  carrying  her  off,  Perseus,  the  prince  of 
whalemen,  intrepidly  advancing,  harpooned  the  monster,  and 
delivered  and  married  the  maid.  It  was  an  admirable  artistic 
exploit,  rarely  achieved  by  the  best  harpooneers  of  the  present 
day ;  inasmuch  as  this  Leviathan  was  slain  at  the  very  first 
dart.  And  let  no  man  doubt  this  Arkite  story ;  for  in  the 
ancient  Joppa,  now  Jaffa,  on  the  Syrian  coast,  in  one  of  the 
Pagan  temples,  there  stood  for  many  ages  the  vast  skeleton  of 
a  whale,  which  the  city's  legends  and  all  the  inhabitants  assert- 
ed to  be  the  identical  bones  of  the  monster  that  Perseus  slew. 
When  the  Romans  took  Joppa,  the  same  skeleton  was  carried 
to  Italy  in  triumph.  What  seems  most  singular  and  suggest- 
ively important  in  this  story,  is  this  :  it  was  from  Joppa  that 
Jonah  set  sail. 

Akin  to  the  adventure  of  Perseus  and  Andromeda — indeed, 
by  some  supposed  to  be  indirectly  derived  from  it — is  that 
famous  story  of  St.  George  and  the  Dragon ;  which  dragon  I 
maintain  to  have  been  a  whale ;  for  in  many  old  chronicles 
whales  and  dragons  are  strangely  jumbled  together,  and  often 
stand  for  each  other.  "  Thou  art  as  a  lion  of  the  waters,  and 
as  a  dragon  of  the  sea,"  saith  Ezekiel ;  hereby,  plainly  meaning 
a  whale ;  in  truth,  some  versions  of  the  Bible  use  that  word 
itself.  Besides,  it  would  much  subtract  from  the  glory  of  the  5 
exploit  had  St.  George  but  encountered  a  crawling  reptile  of 


404    THE  HONOR  AND  GLORY   OF  WHALING. 

the  land,  instead  of  doing  battle  with,  the  great  monster  of  the 
deep.  Any  man  may  kill  a  snake,  but  only  a  Perseus,  a  St. 
George,  a  Coffin,  have  the  heart  in  them  to  march  boldly  up  to 
a  whale. 

Let  not  the  modern  paintings  of  this  scene  mislead  us ;  for 
though  the  creature  encountered  by  that  valiant  whaleman  of 
old  is  vaguely  represented  of  a  griffin-like  shape,  and  though 
the  battle  is  depicted  on  land  and  the  saint  on  horseback,  yet 
considering  the  great  ignorance  of  those  times,  when  the  true 
form  of  the  whale  was  unknown  to  artists ;  and  considering 
that  as  in  Perseus'  case,  St.  George's  whale  might  have  crawled 
up  out  of  the  sea  on  the  beach ;  and  considering  that  the  ani- 
mal ridden  by  St.  George  might  have  been  only  a  large  seal,  or 
sea-horse  ;  bearing  all  this  in  mind,  it  will  not  appear  altogether 
incompatible  with  the  sacred  legend  and  the  ancientest  draughts 
of  the  scene,  to  hold  this  so-called  dragon  no  other  than  the 
great  Leviathan  himself.  In  fact,  placed  before  the  strict  and 
piercing  truth,  this  whole  story  will  fare  like  that  fish,  flesh,  and 
fowl  idol  of  the  Philistines,  Dagon  by  name ;  who  being 
planted  before  the  ark  of  Israel,  his  horse's  head  and  both  the 
palms  of  his  hands  fell  off  from  him,  and  only  the  stump  or 
fishy  part  of  him  remained.  Thus,  then,  one  of  our  own  noble 
stamp,  even  a  whaleman,  is  the  tutelary  guardian  of  England  ; 
and  by  good  rights,  we  harpooneers  of  Nantucket  should  be 
enrolled  in  the  most  noble  order  of  St.  George.  And  there- 
fore, let  not  the  knights  of  that  honorable  company  (none  of 
whom,  I  venture  to  say,  have  ever  had  to  do  with  a  whale  like 
their  great  patron),  let  them  never  eye  a  Nantucketer  with  dis- 
dain, since  even  in  our  woollen  frocks  and  tarred  trowsers  we  are 
much  better  entitled  to  St.  George's  decoration  than  they. 

Whether  to  admit  Hercules  among  us  or  not,  concerning  this  I 
long  remained  dubious  :  for  though  according  to  the  Greek  my- 
thologies, that  antique  Crockett  and  Kit  Carson — that  brawny 
doer  of  rejoicing  good  deeds,  was  swallowed  down  and  thrown 


THE    HONOR    AND    GLORY    OF    WHALING.    405 

up  by  a  whale  ;  still,  whether  that  strictly  makes  a  whaleman 
of  him,  that  might  be  mooted.  It  nowhere  appears  that  he 
ever  actually  harpooned  his  fish,  unless,  indeed,  from  the  inside. 
Nevertheless,  he  may  be  deemed  a  sort  of  involuntary  whale- 
man ;  at  any  rate  the  whale  caught  him,  if  he  did  not  the 
whale.     I  claim  him  for  one  of  our  clan. 

But,  by  the  best  contradictory  authorities,  this  Grecian  story 
of  Hercules  and  the  whale  is  considered  to  be  derived  from  the 
still  more  ancient  Hebrew  story  of  Jonah  and  the  whale  ;  and 
vice  versa  ;  certainly  they  are  very  similar.  If  I  claim  the 
demi-god  then,  why  not  the  prophet  ? 

Nor  do  heroes,  saints,  demigods,  and  prophets  alone  comprise 
the  whole  roll  of  our  order.  Our  grand  master  is  still  to  be 
named ;  for  like  royal  kings  of  old  times,  we  find  the  head- 
waters of  our  fraternity  in  nothing  short  of  the  great  gods 
themselves.  That  wondrous  oriental  story  is  now  to  be 
rehearsed  from  the  Shaster,  which  gives  us  the  dread  Vishnoo, 
one  of  the  three  persons  in  the  godhead  of  the  Hindoos ;  gives 
us  this  divine  Vishnoo  himself  for  our  Lord  ; — Vishnoo,  who, 
by  the  first  of  his  ten  earthly  incarnations,  has  for  ever  set  apart 
and  sanctified  the  whale.  When  Bramha,  or  the  God  of  Gods, 
saith  the  Shaster,  resolved  to  recreate  the  world  after  one  of  its 
periodical  dissolutions,  he  gave  birth  to  Vishnoo,  to  preside 
over  the  work  ;  but  the  Vedas,  or  mystical  books,  whose  perusal 
would  seem  to  have  been  indispensable  to  Vishnoo  before  be- 
ginning the  creation,  and  which  therefore  must  have  contained 
something  in  the  shape  of  practical  hints  to  young  architects, 
these  Vedas  were  lying  at  the  bottom  of  the  waters  ;  so  Vish- 
noo became  incarnate  in  a  whale,  and  sounding  down  in  him 
to  the  uttermost  depths,  rescued  the  sacred  volumes.  Was  not 
this  Vishnoo  a  whaleman,  then  ?  even  as  a  man  who  rides  a 
horse  is  called  a  horseman  ? 

Perseus,  St.  George,  Hercules,  Jonah,  and  Vishnoo  !  there's 
a  member-roll  for  you !  What  club  but  the .  whaleman's  can 
head  off  like  that  ? 


406     JONAH    HISTORICALLY    REGARDED. 


CHAPTER  LXXXIII. 

JONAH    HISTORICALLY   REGARDED. 

Reference  was  made  to  the  historical  story  of  Jonah  and 
the  whale  in  the  preceding  chapter.  Now  some  Nantucketers 
rather  distrust  this  historical  stoiy  of  Jonah  and  the  whale. 
But  then  there  were  some  sceptical  Greeks  and  Romans,  who, 
standing  out  from  the  orthodox  pagans  of  their  times,  equally- 
doubted  the  stoiy  of  Hercules  and  the  whale,  and  Arion  and  the 
dolphin ;  and  yet  their  doubting  those  traditions  did  not  make 
those  traditions  one  whit  the  less  facts,  for  all  that. 

One  old  Sag-Harbor  whaleman's  chief  reason  for  questioning 
the  Hebrew  story  was  this  : — He  had  one  of  those  quaint  old- 
fashioned  Bibles,  embellished  with  curious,  unscientific  plates  ; 
one  of  which  represented  Jonah's  whale  with  two  spouts  in  his 
head — a  peculiarity  only  true  with  respect  to  a  species  of  the 
Leviathan  (the  Right  Whale,  and  the  varieties  of  that  order), 
concerning  which  the  fishermen  have  this  saying,  "  A  penny  roll 
would  choke  him  ;"  his  swallow  is  so  veiy  small.  But,  to  this, 
Bishop  Jebb's  anticipative  answer  is  ready.  It  is  not  necessary, 
hints  the  Bishop,  that  we  consider  Jonah  as  tombed  in  the 
whale's  belly,  but  as  temporarily  lodged  in  some  part  of  his 
mouth.  And  this  seems  reasonable  enough  in  the  good  Bishop. 
For  truly,  the  Right  Whale's  mouth  would  accommodate  a 
couple  of  whist-tables,  and  comfortably  seat  all  the  players. 
Possibly,  too,  Jonah  might  have  ensconced  himself  in  a  hollow 
tooth ;  but,  on  second  thoughts,  the  Right  Whale  is  toothless. 

Another  reason  which  Sag-Harbor  (he  went  by  that  name) 
urged  for  his  want  of  faith  in  this  matter  of  the  prophet,  was 
something  obscurely  in  reference  to  his  incarcerated  body  and 


JONAH    HISTORICALLY    REGARDED.      407 

the  whale's  gastric  juices.  But  this  objection  likewise  falls  to 
the  ground,  because  a  German  exegetist  supposes  that  Jonah  must 
have  taken  refuge  in  the  floating  body  of  a  dead  whale — even 
as  the  French  soldiers  in  the  Russian  campaign  turned  their 
dead  horses  into  tents,  and  crawled  into  them.  Besides,  it  has 
been  divined  by  other  continental  commentators,  that  when 
Jonah  was  thrown  overboard  from  the  Joppa  ship,  he  straight- 
way effected  his  escape  to  another  vessel  near  by,  some  vessel 
with  a  whale  for  a  figure-head ;  and,  I  would  add,  possibly 
called  "  The  Whale,"  as  some  craft  are  nowadays  christened  the 
"Shark,"  the  "Gull,"  the  "Eagle."  Nor  have  there  been 
wanting  learned  exegetists  who  have  opined  that  the  whale  men- 
tioned in  the  book  of  Jonah  merely  meant  a  life-preserver — an 
inflated  bag  of  wind — which  the  endangered  prophet  swam  to, 
and  so  was  saved  from  a  watery  doom.  Poor  Sag-Harbor, 
therefore,  seems  worsted  all  round.  But  he  had  still  another 
reason  for  his  want  of  faith.  It  was  this,  if  I  remember  right : 
Jonah  was  swallowed  by  the  whale  in  the  Mediterranean  Sea, 
and  after  three  days  he  was  vomited  up  somewhere  within  three 
days'  journey  of  Nineveh,  a  city  on  the  Tigris,  very  much  more 
than  three  days'  journey  across  from  the  nearest  point  of  the 
Mediterranean  coast.     How  is  that  ? 

But  was  there  no  other  way  for  the  whale  to  land  the  pro- 
phet within  that  short  distance  of  Nineveh  ?  Yes.  He  might 
have  carried  him  round  by  the  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope. 
But  not  to  speak  of  the  passage  through  the  whole  length  of  the 
Mediterranean,  and  another  passage  up  the  Persian  Gulf  and 
Red  Sea,  such  a  supposition  would  involve  the  complete  circum- 
navigation of  all  Africa  in  three  days,  not  to  speak  of  the  Tigris 
waters,  near  the  site  of  Nineveh,  being  too  shallow  for  any 
whale  to  swim  in.  Besides,  this  idea  of  Jonah's  weathering  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  at  so  early  a  day  would  wrest  the  honor  of 
the  discovery  of  that  great  headland  from  Bartholomew  Diaz, 
its  reputed  discoverer,  and  so  make  modern  history  a  liar. 


408  PITCHPOLING. 


But  all  these  foolish  arguments  of  old  Sag-Harbor  only 
evinced  his  foolish  pride  of  reason — a  thing  still  more  reprehen- 
sible in  him,  seeing  that  he  had  but  little  learning  except  what 
he  had  picked  up  from  the  sun  and  the  sea.  I  say  it  only 
shows  his  foolish,  impious  pride,  and  abominable,  devilish  rebel- 
lion against  the  reverend  clergy.  For  by  a  Portuguese  Catholic 
priest,  this  very  idea  of  Jonah's  going  to  Nineveh  via  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope  was  advanced  as  a  signal  magnification  of 
the  general  miracle.  And  so  it  was.  Besides,  to  this  day,  the 
highly  enlightened  Turks  devoutly  believe  in  the  historical  story 
of  Jonah.  And  some  three  centuries  ago,  an  English  traveller 
in  old  Harris's  Voyages,  speaks  of  a  Turkish  Mosque  built  in 
honor  of  Jonah,  in  which  mosque  was  a  miraculous  lamp  that 
burnt  without  any  oil. 


CHAPTER  LXXXIV. 

PITCHPOLING. 

To  make  them  run  easily  and  swiftly,  the  axles  of  carriages 
are  anointed ;  and  for  much  the  same  purpose,  some  whalers 
perform  an  analogous  operation  upon  their  boat ;  they  grease 
the  bottom.  Nor  is  it  to  be  doubted  that  as  such  a  procedure 
can  do  no  harm,  it  may  possibly  be  of  no  contemptible  advan- 
tage ;  considering  that  oil  and  water  are  hostile ;  that  oil  is  a 
sliding  thing,  and  that  the  object  in  view  is  to  make  the  boat 
slide  bravely.  Queequeg  believed  strongly  in  anointing  his 
boat,  and  one  morning  not  long  after  the  Gerrnan  ship  Jung- 
frau  disappeared,  took  more  than  customary  pains  in  that  occu- 
pation ;  crawling  under  its  bottom,  where  it  hung  over  the  side, 
and  rubbing  in  the  unctuousness  as  though  diligently  seeking  to 
insure  a  crop  of  hair  from  the  craft's  bald  keel.     He  seemed  to 


PITCHPOLING.  409 

be  working  in  obedience  to  some  particular  presentiment.  Nor 
did  it  remain  unwarranted  by  the  event. 

Towards  noon  whales  were  raised ;  but  so  soon  as  the  ship 
sailed  down  to  them,  they  turned  and  fled  with  swift  precipi- 
tancy ;  a  disordered  flight,  as  of  Cleopatra's  barges  from  Actium. 

Nevertheless,  the  boats  pursued,  and  Stubb's  was  foremost. 
By  great  exertion,  Tashtego  at  last  succeeded  in  planting  one 
iron ;  but  the  stricken  whale,  without  at  all  sounding,  stiU  con- 
tinued his  horizontal  flight,  with  added  fleetness.  Such  unin- 
termitted  strainings  upon  the  planted  iron  must  sooner  or  later 
inevitably  extract  it.  It  became  imperative  to  lance  the  flying 
whale,  or  be  content  to  lose  him.  But  to  haul  the  boat  up  to 
his  flank  was  impossible,  he  swam  so  fast  and  furious.  T/hat 
then  remained  ? 

Of  all  the  wondrous  devices  and  dexterities,  the  sleights  of 
hand  and  countless  subtleties,  to  which  the  veteran  whaleman 
is  so  often  forced,  none  exceed  that  fine  manoeuvre  with  the 
lance  called  pitchpoling.  Small  sword,  or  broad  sword,  in  all 
its  exercises  boasts  nothing  like  it.  It  is  only  indispensable  with 
an  inveterate  running  whale ;  its  grand  fact  and  feature  is  the 
wonderful  distance  to  which  the  long  lance  is  accurately  darted 
from  a  violently  rocking,  jerking  boat,  under  extreme  headway. 
Steel  and  wood  included,  the  entire  spear  is  some  ten  or  twelve 
feet  in  length ;  the  staff  is  much  slighter  than  that  of  the  har- 
poon, and  also  of  a  lighter  material — pine.  It  is  furnished  with 
a  small  rope  called  a  warp,  of  considerable  length,  by  which  it 
can  be  hauled  back  to  the  hand  after  darting. 

But  before  going  further,  it  is  important  to  mention  here, 
that  though  the  harpoon  may  be  pitchpoled  in  the  same  way 
with  the  lance,  yet  it  is  seldom  done ;  and  when  done,  is  still 
less  frequently  successful,  on  account  of  the  greater  weight  and 
inferior  length  of  the  harpoon  as  compared  with  the  lance, 
which  in  effect  become  serious  drawbacks.    As  a  general  thing, 


18 


410  PITCHPOLING, 


therefore,  you  must  first  get  fast  to  a  whale,  before  any  pitch- 
poling  comes  into  play. 

Look  now  at  Stubb ;  a  man  who  from  his  humorous,  de- 
liberate coolness  and  equanimity  in  the  direst  emergencies,  was 
specially  qualified  to  excel  in  pitchpoling.  Look  at  him ;  he 
stands  upright  in  the  tossed  bow  of  the  flying  boat ;  wrapt  in  fleecy 
foam,  the  towing  whale  is  forty  feet  ahead.  Handling  the  long 
lance  lightly,  glancing  twice  or  thrice  along  its  length  to  see  if 
it  be  exactly  straight,  Stubb  whistlingly  gathers  up  the  coil  of 
the  warp  in  one  hand,  so  as  to  secure  its  free  end  in  his  grasp, 
leaving  the  rest  unobstructed.  Then  holding  the  lance  full 
before  his  waistband's  middle,  he  levels  it  at  the  whale  ;  when, 
cover,  ng  him  with  it,  he  steadily  depresses  the  butt-end  in  his 
hand,  thereby  elevating  the  point  till  the  weapon  stands  fairly 
balanced  upon  his  palm,  fifteen  feet  in  the  air.  He  minds  you 
somewhat  of  a  juggler,  balancing  a  long  staff  on  his  chin. 
Next  moment  with  a  rapid,  nameless  impulse,  in  a  superb  lofty 
arch  the  bright  steel  spans  the  foaming  distance,  and  quivers  in 
the  fife  spot  of  the  whale.  Instead  of  sparkling  water,  he  now 
spouts  red  blood. 

"  That  drove  the  spigot  out  of  him  !"  cries  Stubb.  "  'Tis 
July's  immortal  Fourth ;  all  fountains  must  run  wine  to-day ! 
Would  now,  it  were  old  Orleans  whiskey,  or  old  Ohio,  or  un- 
speakable old  Monongahela !  Then,  Tashtego,  lad,  I'd  have  ye 
hold  a  canakin  to  the  jet,  and  we'd  drink  round  it !  Yea, 
verily,  hearts  alive,  we'd  brew  choice  punch  in  the  spread  of 
his  spout-hole  there,  and  from  that  live  punch-bowl  quaff  the 
living  stuff!" 

Again  and  again  to  such  gamesome  talk,  the  dexterous  dart 
is  repeated,  the  spear  returning  to  its  master  like  a  greyhound 
held  in  skilful  leash.  The  agonized  whale  goes  into  his  flurry  ; 
the  tow-line  is  slackened,  and  the  pitchpoler  dropping  astern, 
folds  his  hands,  and  mutely  watches  the  monster  die. 


THE    FOUNTAIN.  411 


CHAPTER  LXXXV. 

THE    FOUNTAIN. 

That  for  six  thousand  years — and  no  one  knows  now  many 
millions  of  ages  before — the  great  whales'  should  have  been 
spouting  all  over  the  sea,  and  sprinkling  and  mistifying  the 
gardens  of  the  deep,  as  with  so  many  sprinkling  or  mistifying 
pots ;  and  that  for  some  centuries  back,  thousands  of  hunters 
should  have  been  close  by  the  fountain  of  the  whale,  watching 
these  sprinklings  and  .spoutings — that  all  this  should  be,  and 
yet,  that  down  to  this  blessed  minute  (fifteen  and  a  quarter 
minutes  past  one  o'clock  p.m.  of  this  sixteenth  day  of  December, 
a.d.  1851),  it  should  still  remain  a  problem,  whether  these 
spoutings  are,  after  all,  really  water,  or  nothing  but  vapor — this 
is  surely  a  noteworthy  thing. 

Let  us,  then,  look  at  this  matter,  along  with  some  interesting 
items  contingent.  Every  one  knows  that  by  the  peculiar  cun- 
ning of  their  gills,  the  finny  tribes  in  general  breathe  the  air 
which  at  all  times  is  combined  with  the  element  in  which  they 
swim ;  hence,  a  herring  or  a  cod  might  live  a  century,  and 
never  once  raise  its  head  above  the  surface.  But  owing  to  his 
marked  internal  structure  which  gives  him  regular  lungs,  like  a 
human  being's,  the  whale  can  only  live  by  inhaling  the  disen- 
gaged air  in  the  open  atmosphere.  Wherefore  the  necessity  for 
his  periodical  visits  to  the  upper  world.  But  he  cannot  in  any 
degree  breathe  through  his  mouth,  for,  in  his  ordinary  attitude, 
the  Sperm  Whale's  mouth  is  buried  at  least  eight  feet  beneath 
the  surface ;  and  what  is  still  more,  his  windpipe  has  no  con- 
nexion with  his  mouth.  No,  he  breathes  through  his  spiracle 
alone  ;  and  this  is  on  the  top  of  his  head. 


412  THE    FOUNTAIN. 

If  I  say,  that  in  any  creature  breathing  is  only  a  function 
indispensable  to  vitality,  inasmuch  as  it  withdraws  from  the  air 
a  certain  element,  which  being  subsequently  brought  into  con- 
tact with  the  blood  imparts  to  the  blood  its  vivifying  principle, 
I  do  not  think  I  shall  err ;  though  I  may  possibly  use  some 
superfluous  scientific  words.  Assume  it,  and  it  follows  that  if 
all  the  blood  in  a  man  could  be  aerated  with  one  breath,  he 
might  then  seal  up  his  nostrils  and  not  fetch  another  for  a  con- 
siderable time.  That  is  to  say,  he  would  then  live  without 
breathing.  Anomalous  as  it  may  seem,  this  is  precisely  the 
case  with  the  whale,  who  systematically  lives,  by  intervals,  his 
full  hour  and  more  (when  at  the  bottom)  without  drawing  a 
single  breath,  or  so  much  as  in  any  way  inhaling  a  particle  of 
air ;  for,  remember,  he  has  no  gills.  How  is  this  ?  Between 
his  ribs  and  on  each  side  of  his  spine  he  is  supplied  with  a 
remarkable  involved  Cretan  labyrinth  of  vermicelli-like  vessels, 
which  vessels,  when  he  quits  the  surface,  are  completely  dis- 
tended with  oxygenated  blood.  So  that  for  an  hour  or  more,  a 
thousand  fathoms  in  the  sea,  he  carries  a  surplus  stock  of  vita- 
lity in  him,  just  as  the  camel  crossing  the  waterless  desert  carries 
a  surplus  supply  of  drink  for  future  use  in  its  four  supplemen- 
tary stomachs.  The  anatomical  fact  of  this  labyrinth  is  indis- 
putable ;  and  that  the  supposition  founded  upon  it  is  reasonable 
and  true,  seems  the  more  cogent  to  me,  when  I  consider  the 
otherwise  inexplicable  obstinacy  of  that  leviathan  in  having  his 
spoutings  out,  as  the  fishermon  phrase  it.  This  is  what  I  mean. 
If  unmolested,  upon  rising  to  the  surface,  the  Sperm  Whale  will 
continue  there  for  a  period  of  time  exactly  uniform  with  all  his 
other  unmolested  risings.  Say  he  stays  eleven  minutes,  and 
jets  seventy  times,  that  is,  respires  seventy  breaths ;  then  when- 
ever he  rises  again,  he  will  be  sure  to  have  his  seventy  breaths 
over  again,  to  a  minute.  Now,  if  after  he  fetches  a  few  breaths 
you  alarm  him,  so  that  he  sounds,  he  will  be  always  dodging 
up  again  to  make  good  his  regular  allowance  of  air.     And  not 


THE    FOUNTAIN.  413 

till  those  seventy  breaths  are  told,  will  he  finally  go  down  to 
stay  out  his  full  term  below.  Remark,  however,  that  in  differ- 
ent individuals  these  rates  are  different ;  but  in  any  one  they  are 
alike.  Now,  why  should  the  whale  thus  insist  upon  having  his 
spoutings  out,  unless  it  be  to  replenish  his  reservoir  of  air,  ere 
descending  for  good  ?  How  obvious  is  it,  too,  that  this  neces- 
sity for  the  whale's  rising  exposes  him  to  all  the  fatal  hazards 
of  the  chase.  For  not  by  hook  or  by  net  could  this  vast  levia- 
than be  caught,  when  sailing  a  thousand  fathoms  beneath  the 
sunlight.  Not  so  much  thy  skill,  then,  0  hunter,  as  the  great 
necessities  that  strike  the  victory  to  thee  ! 

In  man,  breathing  is  incessantly  going  on — one  breath  only 
serving  for  two  or  three  pulsations ;  so  that  whatever  other  busi- 
ness he  has  to  attend  to,  waking  or  sleeping,  breathe  he  must, 
or  die  he  will.  But  the  Sperm  Whale  only  breathes  about  one 
seventh  or  Sunday  of  his  time. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  whale  only  breathes  through  his 
spout-hole ;  if  it  could  truthfully  be  added  that  his  spouts  are 
mixed  with  water,  then  I  opine  we  should  be  furnished  with 
the  reason  why  his  sense  of  smell  seems  obliterated  in  him ;  for 
the  only  thing  about  him  that  at  all  answers  to  his  nose  is  that 
identical  spout-hole ;  and  being  so  clogged  with  two  elements, 
it  could  not  be  expected  to  have  the  power  of  smelling.  But 
owing  to  the  mystery  of  the  spout — whether  it  be  water  or 
Avhether  it  be  vapor — no  absolute  certainty  can  as  yet  be  arrived 
at  on  this  head.  Sure  it  is,  nevertheless,  that  the  Sperm  Whale 
has  no  proper  olfactories.  But  what  does  he  want  of  them  ? 
No  roses,  no  violets,  no  Cologne-water  in  the  sea. 

Furthermore,  as  his  windpipe  solely  opens  into  the  tube  of  his 
spouting  canal,  and  as  that  long  canal — like  the  grand  Erie  Canal 
— is  furnished  with  a  sort  of  locks  (that  open  and  shut)  for  the 
downward  retention  of  air  or  the  upward  exclusion  of  water, 
therefore  the  whale  has  no  voice ;  unless  you  insult  him  by  saying, 
that  when  he  so  strangely  rumbles,  he  talks  through  his  nose.   But 


414  THE    FOUNTAIN. 

then  again,  what  has  the  whale  to  say  ?  Seldom  have  I  known 
any  profound  being  that  had  anything  to  say  to  this  world, 
unless  forced  to  stammer  out  something  by  way  of  getting  a 
living.  Oh!  happy  that  the  world  is  such  an  excellent 
listener ! 

Now,  the  spouting  canal  of  the  Sperm  Whale,  chiefly  in- 
tended as  it  is  for  the  conveyance  of  air,  and  for  several  feet 
laid  along,  horizontally,  just  beneath  the  upper  surface  of  his 
head,  and  a  little  to  one  side ;  this  curious  canal  is  very  much 
like  a  gas-pipe  laid  down  in  a  city  on  one  side  of  a  street.  But 
the  question  returns  whether  this  gas-pipe  is  also  a  water-pipe ; 
in  other  words,  whether  the  spout  of  the  Sperm  Whale  is  the 
mere  vapor  of  the  exhaled  breath,  or  whether  that  exhaled 
breath  is  mixed  with  water  taken  in  at  the  mouth,  and  dis- 
charged through  the  spiracle.  It  is  certain  that  the  mouth 
indirectly  communicates  with  the  spouting  canal ;  but  it  cannot 
be  proved  that  this  is  for  the  purpose  of  discharging  water 
through  the  spiracle.  Because  the  greatest  necessity  for  so 
doing  would  seem  to  be,  when  in  feeding  he  accidentally  takes 
in  water.  But  the  Sperm  Whale's  food  is  far  beneath  the  sur- 
face, and  there  he  cannot  spout  even  if  he  would.  Besides,  if 
you  regard  him  very  closely,  and  time  him  with  your  watch, 
you  will  find  that  when  unmolested,  there  is  an  undeviating 
rhyme  between  the  periods  of  his  jets  and  the  ordinary  periods 
of  respiration. 

But  why  pester  one  with  all  this  reasoning  on  the  subject  ? 
Speak  out !  You  have  seen  him  spout ;  then  declare  what  the 
spout  is  ;  can  you  not  tell  water  from  air  ?  My  dear  sir,  in  this 
world  it  is  not  so  easy  to  settle  these  plain  things.  I  have  ever 
found  your  plain  things'  the  knottiest  of  all.  And  as  for  this 
whale  spout,  you  might  almost  stand  in  it,  and  yet  be  undecided 
as  to  what  it  is  precisely. 

The  central  body  of  it  is  hidden  in  the  snowy  sparkling  mist 
enveloping  it ;  and  how  can  you  certainly  tell  whether  any  water 


THE    FOUNTAIN.  415 

falls  from  it,  when,  always,  when  you  are  close  enough  to  a 
whale  to  get  a  close  view  of  his  spout,  he  is  in  a  prodigious 
commotion,  the  water  cascading  all  around  him.  And  if  at 
such  times  you  should  think  that  you  really  perceived  drops  of 
moisture  in  the  spout,  how  do  you  know  that  they  are  not 
merely  condensed  from  its  vapor ;  or  how  do  you  know  that 
they  are  not  those  identical  drops  superficially  lodged  in  the 
spout-hole  fissure,  which  is  countersunk  into  the  summit  of  the 
whale's  head  ?  For  even  when  tranquilly  swimming  through 
the  mid-day  sea  in  a  calm,  with  his  elevated  hump  sun-dried  as 
a  dromedary's  in  the  desert ;  even  then,  the  whale  always  car- 
ries a  small  basin  of  water  on  his  head,  as  under  a  blazing  sun 
you  will  sometimes  see  a  cavity  in  a  rock  filled  up  with  rain. 

Nor  is  it  at  all  prudent  for  the  hunter  to  be  over  curious 
touching  the  precise  nature  of  the  whale  spout.  It  will  not  do 
for  him  to  be  peering  into  it,  and  putting  his  face  in  it.  You 
cannot  go  with  your  pitcher  to  this  fountain  and  fill  it,  and 
bring  it  away.  For  even  when  coming  into  slight  contact  with 
the  outer,  vapory  shreds  of  the  jet,  which  will  often  happen,  ■ 
your  skin  will  feverishly  smart,  from  the  acridness  of  the  thing 
so  touching  it.  And  I  know  one,  who  coming  into  still  closer 
contact  with  the  spout,  whether  with  some  scientific  object  in 
view,  or  otherwise,  I  cannot  say,  the  skin  peeled  off  from  his 
cheek  and  arm.  Wherefore,  among  whalemen,  the  spout  is 
deemed  poisonous;  they  try  to  evade  it.  Another  thing;  I 
have  heard  it  said,  and  I  do  not  much  doubt  it,  that  if  the  jet 
is  fairly  spouted  into  your  eyes,  it  will  blind  you.  The'  wisest 
thing  the  investigator  can  do  then,  it  seems  to  me,  is  to  let  this 
deadly  spout  alone. 

Still,  we  can  hypothesize,  even  if  we  cannot  prove  and 
establish.  My  hypothesis  is  this  :  that  the  spout  is  nothing  but 
mist.  And  besides  other  reasons,  to  this  conclusion  I  am  im- 
pelled, by  considerations  touching  the  great  inherent  dignity  and 
sublimity  of  the  Sperm  Whale ;  I  account  him  no  common, 


416  THE    FOUNTAIN. 

shallow  being,  inasmuch  as  it  is  an  undisputed  fact  that  he  is 
never  found  on  soundings,  or  near  shores  ;  all  other  whales  some- 
times are.  He  is  both  ponderous  and  profound.  And  I  am 
convinced  that  from  the  heads  of  all  ponderous  profound  beings, 
such  as  Plato,  Pyrrho,  the  Devil,  Jupiter,  Dante,  and  so  on, 
there  always  goes  up  a  certain  semi-visible  steam,  while  in  the 
act  of  thinking  deep  thoughts.  While  composing  a  little 
treatise  on  Eternity,  I  had  the  curiosity  to  place  a  mirror  before 
me ;  and  ere  long  saw  reflected  there,  a  curious  involved 
worming  and  undulation  in  the  atmosphere  over  my  head.  The 
invariable  moisture  of  my  hair,  while  plunged  in  deep  thought, 
after  six  cups  of  hot  tea  in  my  thin  shingled  attic,  of  an  August 
noon ;  this  seems  an  additional  argument  for  the  above  supposi- 
tion. 

And  how  nobly  it  raises  our  conceit  of  the  mighty,  misty 
monster,  to  behold  him  solemnly  sailing  through  a  calm  tropical 
sea ;  his  vast,  mild  head  overhung  by  a  canopy  of  vapor,  en- 
gendered by  his  incommunicable  contemplations,  and  that 
vapor — as  you  will  sometimes  see  it — glorified  by  a  rainbow,  as 
if  Heaven  itself  bad  put  its  seal  upon  his  thoughts.  For,  d'ye 
see,  rainbows  do  not  visit  the  clear  air ;  they  only  irradiate 
vapor.  And  so,  through  all  the  thick  mists  of  the  dim  doubts 
in  my  mind,  divine  intuitions  now  and  then  shoot,  enkindling 
my  fog  with  a  heavenly  ray.  And  for  this  I  thank  God  ;  for 
all  have  doubts  ;  many  deny ;  but  doubts  or  denials,  few  along 
with  them,  have  intuitions.  Doubts  of  all  things  earthly,  and 
intuitions  of  some  things  heavenly ;  this  combination  makes 
neither  believer  nor  infidel,  but  makes  a  man  who  regards  them 
both  with  equal  eye. 


THE    TAIL.  417 


CHAPTER  LXXXVI. 

'  THE    TAIL. 

Other  poets  have  warbled  the  praises  of  the  soft  eye  of  the 
antelope,  and  the  lovely  plumage  of  the  bird  that  never  alights  ; 
less  celestial,  I  celebrate  a  tail. 

Reckoning  the  largest  sized  Sperm  Whale's  tail  to  begin 
at  that  point  of  the  trunk  where  it  tapers  to  about  the  girth  of 
a  man,  it  comprises  upon  its  upper  surface  alone,  an  area  of  at 
least  fifty  square  feet.  The  compact  round  body  of  its  root 
expands  into  two  broad,  firm,  flat  palms  or  flukes,  gradually 
shoaling  away  to  less  than  an  inch  in  thickness.  At  the  crotch 
or  junction,  these  flukes  slightly  overlap,  then  sideways  recede 
from  each  other  like  wings,  leaving  a  wide  vacancy  between. 
In  no  living  thing  are  the  lines  of  beauty  more  exquisitely 
defined  than  in  the  crescentic  borders  of  these  flukes.  At  its 
utmost  expansion  in  the  full  grown  whale,  the  tail  will  con- 
siderably exceed  twenty  feet  across. 

The  entire  member  seems  a  dense  webbed  bed  of  welded 
sinews ;  but  cut  into  it,  and  you  find  that  three  distinct  strata  com- 
pose it : — upper,  middle,  and  lower.  The  fibres  in  the  upper  and 
lower  layers,  are  long  and  horizontal ;  those  of  the  middle  one, 
very  short,  and  running  crosswise  between  the  outside  layers. 
This  triune  structure,  as  much  as  anything  else,  imparts  power  to 
the  tail.  To  the  student  of  old  Roman  walls,  the  middle  layer 
will  furnish  a  curious  parallel  to  the  thin  course  of  tiles  always 
alternating  with  the  stone  in  those  wonderful  relics  of  the 
antique,  and  which  undoubtedly  contribute  so  much  to  the  great 
strength  of  the  masonry. 

But  as  if  this  vast  local  power  in  the  tendinous  tail  were  not 
18* 


418  THE    TAIL. 

enough,  the  whole  bulk  of  the  leviathan  is  knit  over  with  a 
warp  and  woof  of  muscular  fibres  and  filaments,  which  passing 
on  either  side  the  loins  and  running  down  into  the  flukes,  insen- 
sibly blend  with  them,  and  largely  contribute  to  their  might ; 
so  that  in  the  tail  "the  confluent  measureless  force  of  the  whole 
whale  seems  concentrated  tq  a  point.  Could  annihilation 
occur  to  matter,  this  were  the  thing  to  do  it. 

Nor  does  this — its  amazing  strength,  at  all  tend  to  cripple 
the  graceful  flexion  of  its  motions ;  where  infantileness  of  ease 
undulates  through  a  Titanism  of  power.  On  the  contrary, 
those  motions  derive  their  most  appalling  beauty  from  it.  Real 
strength  never  impairs  beauty  or  harmony,  but  it  often  bestows 
it ;  and  iu  everything  imposingly  beautiful,  strength  has  much 
to  do  with  the  magic.  Take  away  the  tied  tendons  that  all  over 
seem  bursting  from  the  marble  in  the  carved  Hercules,  and  its 
charm  would  be  gone.  As  devout  Eckerrnan  lifted  the  linen 
sheet  from  the  naked  corpse  of  Goethe,  he  was  overwhelmed 
with  the  massive  chest  of  the  man,  that  seemed  as  a  Roman 
triumphal  arch.  When  Angelo  paints  even  God  the  Father 
in  human  form,  mark  what  robustness  is  there.  And  whatever 
they  may  reveal  of  the  divine  love  in  the  Son,  the  soft,  curled, 
hermaphroditical  Italian  pictures,  in  which  his  idea  has  been 
most  successfully  embodied ;  these  pictures,  so  destitute  as  they 
are  of  all  brawniness,  hint  nothing  of  any  power,  but  the  mere 
negative,  feminine  one  of  submission  and  endurance,  which  on 
all  hands  it  is  conceded,  form  the  peculiar  practical  virtues  of  his 
teachings. 

Such  is  the  subtle  elasticity  of  the  organ  I  treat  of,  that 
whether  wielded  in  sport,  or  in  earnest,  or  in  anger,  whatever 
be  the  mood  it  be  in,  its  flexions  are  invariably  marked  by  ex- 
ceeding grace.     Therein  no  fairy's  arm  can  transcend  it. 

Five  great  motions  are  peculiar  to  it.  First,  when  used  as 
a  fin  for  progression ;  Second,  when  used  as  a  mace  in  battle ; 


THE    TAIL.  419 

Third,  in  sweeping ;  Fourth,  in  lobtailing ;  Fifth,  in  peaking 
flukes. 

First :  Being  horizontal  in  its  position,  the  Leviathan's  tail 
acts  in  a  different  manner  from  the  tails  of  all  other  sea  crea- 
tures. It  never  wriggles.  In  man  or  fish,  wriggling  is  a  sign 
of  inferiority.  To  the  whale,  his  tail  is  the  sole  means  of  pro- 
pulsion. Scroll-wise  coiled  forwards  beneath  the  body,  and  then 
rapidly  sprung  backwards,  it  is  this  which  gives  that  singular 
darting,  leaping  motion  to  the  monster  when  furiously  swim- 
ming.    His  side-fins  only  serve  to  steer  by. 

Second  :  It  is  a  little  significant,  that  while  one  sperm  whale 
only  fights  another  sperm  whale  with  his  head  and  jaw, 
nevertheless,  in  his  conflicts  with  man,  he  chiefly  and  contempt- 
uously uses  his  tail.  In  striking  at  a  boat,  he  swiftly  curves 
away  his  flukes  from  it,  and  the  blow  is  only  inflicted  by  the 
recoil.  If  it  be  made  in  the  unobstructed  air,  especially  if  it 
descend  to  its  mark,  the  stroke  is  then  simply  irresistible.  No 
ribs  of  man  or  boat  can  withstand  it.  Your  only  salvation  lies 
in  eluding  it ;  but  if  it  comes  sideways  through  the  opposing 
water,  then  partly  owing  to  the  light  buoyancy  of  the  whale- 
boat,  and  the  elasticity  of  its  materials,  a  cracked  rib  or  a  dashed 
plank  or  two,  a  sort  of  stitch  in  the  side,  is  generally  the  most 
serious  result.  These  submerged  side  blows  are  so  often 
received  in  the  fishery,  that  they  are  accounted  mere  child's 
play.     Some  one  strips  off  a  frock,  and  the  hole  is  stopped. 

Third  :  I  cannot  demonstrate  it,  but  it  seems  to  me,  that  in 
the  whale  the  sense  of  touch  is  concentrated  in  the  tail ;  for 
in  this  respect  there  is  a  delicacy  in  it  only  equalled  by  the 
daintiness  of  the  elephant's  trunk.  This  delicacy  is  chiefly 
evinced  in  the  action  of  sweeping,  when  in  maidenly  gentleness 
the  whale  with  a  certain  soft  slowness  moves  his  immense  flukes 
from  side  to  side  upon  the  surface  of  the  sea ;  and  if  he  feel 
Wt  a  sailor's  whisker,  woe  to  that  sailor,  whiskers  and  all. 
What  tenderness  there  is  in  that  preliminary  touch  S     Had  this 


420  THE    TAIL. 

tail  any  prehensile  power,  I  should  straightway  bethink  me  of 
Darmonodes'  elephant  that  so  frequented  the  flower-market,  and 
with  low  salutations  presented  nosegays  to  damsels,  and  then 
caressed  their  zones.  On  more  accounts  than  one,  a  pity  it  is 
that  the  whale  does  not  possess  this  prehensile  virtue  in  his 
tail;  for  I  have  heard  of  yet  another  elephant,  that  when 
wounded  in  the  fight,  curved  round  his  trunk  and  extracted  the 
dart. 

Fourth:  Stealing  unawares  upon  the  whale  in  the  fancied 
security  of  the  middle  of  solitary  seas,  you  find  him  unbent 
from  the  vast  corpulence  of  his  dignity,  and  kitten-like,  he  plays 
on  the  ocean  as  if  it  were  a  hearth.  But  still  you  see  his  power 
in  his  play.  The  broad  palms  of  his  tail  are  flirted  high  into 
the  air ;  then  smiting  the  surface,  the  thunderous  concussion 
resounds  for  miles.  You  would  almost  think  a  great  gun  had 
been  discharged  ;  and  if  you  noticed  the  light  wreath  of  vapor 
from  the  spiracle  at  his  other  extremity,  you  would  think  that 
that  was  the  smoke  from  the  touch-hole. 

Fifth :  As  in  the  ordinary  floating  posture  of  the  leviathan 
the  flukes  lie  considerably  below  the  level  of  his  back,  they  are 
then  completely  out  of  sight  beneath  the  surface  ;  but  when  he 
is  about  to  plunge  into  the  deeps,  his  entire  flukes  with  at 
least  thirty  feet  of  his  body  are  tossed  erect  in  the  air,  and  so 
remain  vibrating  a  moment,  till  they  downwards  shoot  out  of 
view.  Excepting  the  sublime  breach — somewhere  else  to  be 
described — this  peaking  of  the  whale's  flukes  is  perhaps  the 
grandest  sight  to  be  seen  in  all  animated  nature.  Out  of 
the  bottomless  profundities  the  gigantic  tail  seems  spasmodically 
snatching  at  the  highest  heaven.  So  in  dreams,  have  I  seen 
majestic  Satan  thrusting  forth  his  tormented  colossal  claw  from 
the  flame  Baltic  of  Hell.  But  in  gazing  at  such  scenes,  it  is  all 
in  all  what  mood  you  are  in ;  if  in  the  Dantean,  the  devils  will 
occur  to  you  ;  if  in  that  of  Isaiah,  the  archangels.  Standing  at 
the  mast-head  of  my  ship  during  a  sunrise  that  crimsoned 


THE    TAIL.  421 


sky  and  sea,  I  once  saw  a  large  herd  of  whales  in  the  east,  all 
heading  towards  the  sun,  and  for  a  moment  vibrating  in  con- 
cert with  peaked  flukes.  As  it  seemed  to  me  at  the  time,  such 
a  grand  embodiment  of  adoration  of  the  gods  was  never  beheld, 
even  in  Persia,  the  home  of  the  fire  worshippers.  As  Ptolemy 
Philopater  testified  of  the  African  elephant,  I  then  testified  of 
the  whale,  pronouncing  him  the  most  devout  of  all  beings. 
For  according  to  King  Juba,  the  military  elephants  of  antiquity 
often  hailed  the  morning  with  their  trunks  uplifted  in  the  pro- 
foundest  silence. 

The  chance  comparison  in  this  chapter,  between  the  whale 
and  the  elephant,  so  far  as  some  aspects  of  the  tail  of  the  one 
and  the  trunk  of  the  other  are  concerned,  should  not  tend  to 
place  those  two  opposite  organs  on  an  equality,  much  less  the 
creatures  to  which  they  respectively  belong.  For  as  the  might- 
iest elephant  is  but  a  terrier  to  Leviathan,  so,  compared  with 
Leviathan's  tail,  his  trunk  is  but  the  stalk  of  a  lily.  The  most 
direful  blow  from  the  elephant's  trunk  were  as  the  playful  tap 
of  a  fan,  compared  with  the  measureless  crush  and  crash  of  the 
sperm  whale's  ponderous  flukes,  which  in  repeated  instances 
have  one  after  the  other  hurled  entire  boats  with  all  their  oars 
and  creAvs  into  the  air,  very  much  as  an  Indian  juggler  tosses 
his  balls.* 

The  more  I  consider  this  mighty  tail,  the  more  do  I  deplore 
my  inability  to  express  it.  At  times  there  are  gestures  in  it, 
which,  though  they  would  well  grace  the  hand  of  man,  remain 
wholly  inexplicable.     In  an  extensive  herd,  so  remarkable,  occa- 

*  Though  all  comparison  in  the  way  of  general  bulk  between  the 
whale  and  the  elephant  is  preposterous,  inasmuch  as  in  that  particular 
the  elephant  stands  in  much  the  same  respect  to  the  whale  that  a  dog 
does  to  the  elephant ;  nevertheless,  there  are  not  wanting  some  points  of 
curious  similitude  ;  among  these  is  the  spout.  It  is  well  known  that  the 
elephant  will  often  draw  up  water  or  dust  in  his  trunk,  and  then  elevating 
it,  jet  it  forth  in  a  stream. 


422  THE    GRAND    ARMADA. 

sionally,  are  these  mystic  gestures,  that  I  have  heard  hunters 
who  have  declared  them  akin  to  Free-Mason  signs  and  symbols  ; 
that  the  whale,  indeed,  by  these  methods  intelligently  conversed 
with  the  world.  Nor  are  there  wanting  other  motions  of  the 
whale  in  his  general  body,  full  of  strangeness,  and  unaccounta- 
ble to  his  most  experienced  assailant.  Dissect  him  how  I  may, 
then,  I  but  go  skin  deep ;  I  know  him  not,  and  never  will.  But 
if  I  know  not  even  the  tail  of  this  whale,  how  understand  his 
head  ?  much  more,  how  comprehend  his  face,  when  face  he  has 
none  ?  Thou  shalt  see  my  back  parts,  my  tail,  he  seems  to 
say,  but  my  face  shall  not  be  seen.  But  I  cannot  completely 
make  out  his  back  parts  ;  and  hint  what  he  will  about  his  face, 
I  say  again  he  has  no  face. 


a. 
CHAPTER  LXXXVII. 

THE  GRAND  ARMADA. 

The  long  and  narrow  peninsula  of  Malacca,  extending 
south-eastward  from  the  territories  of  Birmah,  forms  the  most 
southerly  point  of  all  Asia.  In  a  continuous  line  from  that 
peninsula  stretch  the  long  islands  of  Sumatra,  Java,  Bally,  and 
Timor ;  which,  with  many  others,  form  a  vast  mole,  or  rampart, 
lengthwise  connecting  Asia  with  Australia,  and  dividing  the  long 
unbroken  Indian  ocean  from  the  thickly  studded  oriental  archi- 
pelagoes. This  rampart  is  pierced  by  several  sally-ports  for  the 
convenience  of  ships  and  whales  ;  conspicuous  among  which  are 
the  straits  of  Sunda  and  Malacca.  By  the  straits  of  Sunda, 
chiefly,  vessels  bound  to  China  from  the  west,  emerge  into  the 
China  seas. 

Those  narrow  straits  of  Sunda  divide  Sumatra  from  Java; 
and  standing  midway  in  that  vast  rampart  of  islands,  buttressed 


THE    GRAND-ARMADA.  423 

by  that  bold  green  promontory,  known  to  seamen  as  Java  Head ; 
they  not  a  little  correspond  to  the  central  gateway  opening  into 
some  vast  walled  empire :  and  considering  the  inexhaustible 
wealth  of  spices,  and  silks,  and  jewels,  and  gold,  and  ivory,  with 
which  the  thousand  islands  of  that  oriental  sea  are  enriched,  it 
seems  a  significant  provision  of  nature,  that  such  treasures,  by 
the  very  formation  of  the  land,  should  at  least  bear  the  appear- 
ance, however  ineffectual,  of  being  guarded  from  the  all-grasping 
western  world.  The  shores  of  the  Straits  of  Sunda  are  unsup- 
plied  with  those  domineering  fortresses  which  guard  the  entran- 
ces to  the  Mediterranean,  the  Baltic,  and  the  Propontis.  Unlike 
the  Danes,  these  Orientals  do  not  demand  the  obsequious  homage 
of  lowered  top-sails  from  the  endless  procession  of  ships  before 
the  wind,  which  for  centuries  past,  by  night  and  by  day,  have 
passed  between  the  islands  of  Sumatra  and  Java,  freighted  with 
the  costliest  cargoes  of  the  east.  But  while  they  freely  waive  a 
ceremonial  like  this,  they  do  by  no  means  renounce  their  claim 
to  more  solid  tribute. 

Time  out  of  mind  the  piratical  proas  of  the  Malays,  lurking 
among  the  low  shaded  coves  and  islets  of  Sumatra,  have  sallied 
out  upon  the  vessels  sailing  through  the  straits,  fiercely  demand- 
ing tribute  at  the  point  of  their  spears.  Though  by  the 
repeated  bloody  chastisements  they  have  received  at  the  hands 
of  European  cruisers,  the  audacity  of  these  corsairs  has  of  late 
been  somewhat  repressed ;  yet,  even  at  the  present  day,  we 
occasionally  hear  of  English  and  American  vessels,  which,  in 
those  waters,  have  been  remorselessly  boarded  and  pillaged. 

With  a  fair,  fresh  wind,  the  Pequod  was  now  drawing  nigh 
to  these  straits ;  Ahab  purposing  to  pass  through  them  into  the 
Javan  sea,  and.  thence,  cruising  northwards,  over  waters  known 
to  be  frequented  here  and  there  by  the  Sperm  Whale,  sweep 
inshore  by  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  gain  the  far  coast  of  Japan, 
in  time  for  the  great  whaling  season  there.  By  these  means, 
the  circumnavigating  Pequod  would  sweep  almost  all  the  known 


424  .     THE    GRAND    ARMADA. 

Sperm  Whale  cruising  grounds  of  the  world,  previous  to  descend- 
ing upon  the  Line  in  the  Pacific ;  where  Ahab,  though  every- 
where else  foiled  in  his  pursuit,  firmly  counted  upon  giving 
battle  to  Moby  Dick,  in  the  sea  he  was  most  known  to  frequent ; 
and  at  a  season  when  he  might  most  reasonably  be  presumed 
to  be  haunting  it. 

But  how  now  ?  in  this  zoned  quest,  does  Ahab  touch  no  land  ? 
does  his  crew  drink  air  ?  Surely,  he  will  stop  for  water.  Nay. 
For  a  long  time,  now,  the  circus-running  sun  has  raced  within 
his  fiery  ring,  and  needs  no  sustenance  but  what's  in  himself. 
So  Ahab.  Mark  this,  too,  in  the  whaler.  While  other  hulls 
are  loaded  down  with  alien  stuff,  to  be  transferred  to  foreign 
wharves  ;  the  world-wandering  whale-ship  carries  no  cargo  but 
herself  and  crew,  their  weapons  and  their  wants.  She  has  a 
whole  lake's  contents  bottled  in  her  ample  hold.  She  is  ballasted 
with  utilities ;  not  altogether  with  unusable  pig-lead  and 
kentledge.  She  carries  years'  water  in  her.  Clear  old  prime 
Nantucket  water ;  which,  when  three  years  afloat,  the  Nantuck- 
eter,  in  the  Pacific,  prefers  to  drink  before  the  brackish  fluid,  but 
yesterday  rafted  off  in  casks,  from  the  Peruvian  or  Indian  streams. 
Hence  it  is,  that,  while  other  ships  may  have  gone  to  China 
from  New  York,  and  back  again,  touching  at  a  score  of  ports, 
the  whale-ship,  in  all  that  interval,  may  not  have  sighted  one 
grain  of  soil ;  her  crew  having  seen  no  man  but  floating  seamen 
like  themselves.  So  that  did  you  carry  them  the  news  that 
another  flood  had  come ;  they  would  only  answer — "  Well,  boys, 
here's  the  ark !" 

Now,  as  many  Sperm  Whales  had  been  captured  off  the 
western  coast  of  Java,  in  the  near  vicinity  of  the  Straits  of  Sunda ; 
indeed,  as  most  of  the  ground,  roundabout,  was  generally  recog- 
nised by  the  fishermen  as  an  excellent  spot  for  cruising ;  there- 
fore, as  the  Pequod  gained  more  and  more  upon  Java  Head, 
the  look-outs  were  repeatedly  hailed,  and  admonished  to  keep 
wide  awake.     But  though  the  green  palmy  cliffs  of  the  land 


THE    GRAND    ARMADA.  425 

soon  loomed  on  the  starboard  bow,  and  with  delighted  nostrils 
the  fresh  cinnamon  was  snuffed  in  the  air,  yet  not  a  single  jet 
was  descried.  Almost  renouncing  all  thought  of  falling  in  with 
any  game  hereabouts,  the  ship  had  well  nigh  entered  the  straits, 
when  the  customary  cheering  cry  was  heard  from  aloft,  and  ere 
long  a  spectacle  of  singular  magnificence  saluted  us. 

But  here  be  it  premised,  that  owing  to  the  unwearied  activity 
with  which  of  late  they  have  been  hunted  over  all  four  oceans, 
the  Sperm  Whales,  instead  of  almost  invariably  sailing  in  small 
detached  companies,  as  in  former  times,  are  now  frequently  met 
with  in  extensive  herds,  sometimes  embracing  so  great  a  multi- 
tude, that  it  would  almost  seem  as  if  numerous  nations  of  them 
had  sworn  solemn  league  and  covenant  for  mutual  assistance 
and  protection.  To  this  aggregation  of  the  Sperm  Whale  into 
such  immense  caravans,  may  be  imputed  the  circumstance  that 
even  in  the  best  cruising  grounds,  you  may  now  sometimes  sail 
for  weeks  and  months  together,  without  being  greeted  by  a 
single  spout ;  and  then  be  suddenly  saluted  by  what  sometimes 
seems  thousands  on  thousands. 

Broad  on  both  bows,  at  the  distance  of  some  two  or  three 
miles,  and  forming  a  great  semicircle,  embracing  one  half  of  the 
level  horizon,  a  continuous  chain  of  whale-jets  were  up-playing 
and  sparkling  in  the  noon-day  ah.  Unlike  the  straight  perpen- 
dicular twin-jets  of  the  Right  Whale,  which,  dividing  at  top,  fall 
over  in  two  branches,  like  the  cleft  drooping  boughs  of  a  willow, 
the  single  forward-slanting  spout  of  the  Sperm  Whale  presents 
a  thick  curled  bush  of  white  mist,  continually  rising  and  falling 
away  to  leeward. 

Seen  from  the  Pequod's  deck,  then,  as  she  would  rise  on  a 
high  hill  of  the  sea,  this  host  of  vapoiy  spouts,  individually  curl- 
ing up  into  the  air,  and  beheld  through  a  blending  atmosphere 
of  bluish  haze,  showed  like  the  thousand  cheerful  chimneys  of 
some  dense  metropolis,  descried  of  a  balmy  autumnal  morning, 
by  some  horseman  on  a  height. 


426  THE    GRAND   ARMADA. 

As  marching  armies  approaching  an  unfriendly  defile  in  the 
mountains,  accelerate  their  march,  all  eagerness  to  place  that 
perilous  passage  in  their  rear,  and  once  more  expand  in  compa- 
rative security  upon  the  plain ;  even  so  did  this  vast  fleet  of 
whales  now  seem  hurrying  forward  through  the  straits; 
gradually  contracting  the  wings  of  their  semicircle,  and  swim- 
ming on,  in  one  solid,  but  still  crescentic  centre. 

Crowding  all  sail  the  Pequod  pressed  after  them ;  the 
harpooneers  handling  their  weapons,  and  loudly  cheering  from 
the  heads  of  their  yet  suspended  boats.  If  the  wind  only  held, 
little  doubt  had  they,  that  chased  through  these  Straits  of  Sunda, 
the  vast  host  would  only  deploy  into  the  Oriental  seas  to  witness 
the  capture  of  not  a  few  of  their  number.  And  who  could  tell 
whether,  in  that  congregated  caravan,  Moby  Dick  himself  might 
not  temporarily  be  swimming,  like  the  worshipped  white- 
elephant  in  the  coronation  procession  of  the  Siamese !  So  with 
stun-sail  piled  on  stun-sail,  we  sailed  along,  driving  these 
leviathans  before  us ;  when,  of  a  sudden,  the  voice  of  Tashtego 
was  heard,  loudly  directing  attention  to  something  in  our  wake. 

Corresponding  to  the  crescent  in  our  van,  we  beheld  another 
in  our  rear.  It  seemed  formed  of  detached  white  vapors,  rising 
and  falling  something  like  the  spouts  of  the  whales ;  only  they 
did  not  so  completely  come  and  go  ;  for  they  constantly  hovered, 
without  finally  disappearing.  Levelling  his  glass  at  this  sight, 
Ahab  quickly  revolved  in  his  pivot-hole,  crying,  "  Aloft  there, 
.  and  rig  whips  and  buckets  to  wet  the  sails  ; — Malays,  sir,  and 
after  us !"  . 

As  if  too  long  lurking  behind  the  headlands,  till  the  Pequod 
should  fairly  have  entered  the  straits,  these  rascally  Asiatics  were 
now  in  hot  pursuit,  to  make  up  for  their  over-cautious  delay. 
But  when  the  swift  Pequod,  with  a  fresh  leading  wind,  was 
herself  in  hot  chase ;  how  very  kind  of  these  tawny  philanthro- 
pists to  assist  in  speeding  her  on  to  her  own  chosen  pursuit, — 
mere  riding-whips  and  rowels  to  her,  that  they  were.     As  with 


THE    GRAND    ARMADA.  427 

glass  under  arm,  Ahab  to-and-fro  paced  the  deck  ;  in  his  forward 
turn  beholding  the  monsters  he  chased,  and  in  the  after  one 
the  bloodthirsty  pirates  chasing  him ;  some  such  fancy  as  the 
above  seemed  his.  And  when  he  glanced  upon  the  green  walls 
of  the  watery  defile  in  which  the  ship  was  then  sailing,  and 
bethought  him  that  through  that  gate  lay  the  route  to  hi3 
vengeance,  and  beheld,  how  that  through  that  same  gate  he  was 
now  both  chasing  and  being  chased  to  his  deadly  end ;  and  not 
only  that,  but  a  herd  of  remorseless  wild  pirates  and  inhuman 
atheistical  devils  were  infernally  cheering  him  on  with  their 
curses ; — when  all  these  conceits  had  passed  through  his  brain, 
Ahab's  brow  was  left  gaunt  and  ribbed,  like  the  black  sand 
beach  after  some  stormy  tide  has  been  gnawing  it,  without  being 
able  to  drag  the  firm  thing  from  its  place. 

But  thoughts  like  these  troubled  very  few  of  the  reckless  crew  ; 
and  when,  after  steadily  dropping  and  dropping  the  pirates  astern, 
the  Pequod  at  last  shot  by  the  vivid  green  Cockatoo  Point  on 
the  Sumatra  side,  emerging  at  last  upon  the  broad  waters 
beyond ;  then,  the  harpooneers  seemed  more  to  grieve  that  the 
swift  whales  had  been  gaining  upon  the  ship,  than  to  rejoice 
that  the  ship  had  so  victoriously  gained  upon  the  Malays.  But 
still  driving  on  in  the  wake  of  the  whales,  at  length  they  seemed 
abating  their  speed  ;  gradually  the  ship  neared  them  ;  and  the 
wind  now  dying  away,  word  was  passed  to  spring  to  the  boats. 
But  no  sooner  did  the  herd,  by  some  presumed  wonderful  instinct 
of  the  Sperm  Whale,  become  notified  of  the  three  keels  that 
were  after  them, — though  as  yet  a  mile  in  their  rear, — than 
they  rallied  again,  and  forming  in  close  ranks  and  battalions, 
so  that  their  spouts  all  looked  like  flashing  lines  of  stacked 
bayonets,  moved  on  with  redoubled  velocity. 

Stripped  to  our  shirts  and  drawers,  we  sprang  to  the  white- 
ash,  and  after  several  hours'  pulling  were  almost  disposed  to 
renounce  the  chase,  when  a  general  pausing  commotion  among 
the  whales  gave  animating  token  that  they  were  now  at  last 


428  THE    GRAND    ARMADA. 

under  the  influence  of  that  strange  perplexity  of  inert  irresolu- 
tion, which,  when  the  fishermen  perceive  it  in  the  whale,  they 
say  he  is  gallied.  The  compact  martial  columns  in  which  they 
had  been  hitherto  rapidly  and  steadily  swimming,  were  now 
broken  up  in  one  measureless  rout ;  and  like  King  Porus'  ele- 
phants in  the  Indian  battle  with  Alexander,  they  seemed  going 
mad  with  consternation.  In  all  directions  expanding  in  vast 
irregular  circles,  and  aimlessly  swimming  hither  and  thither, 
by  their  short  thick  spoutings,  they  plainly  betrayed  their  dis- 
traction of  panic.  This  was  still  more  strangely  evinced  by 
those  of  their  number,  who,  completely  paralysed  as  it  were, 
helplessly  floated  like  water-logged  dismantled  ships  on  the  sea. 
Had  these  leviathans  been  but  a  flock  of  simple  sheep,  pursued 
over  the  pasture  by  three  fierce  wolves,  they  could  not  possibly 
have  evinced  such  excessive  dismay.  But  this  occasional 
timidity  is  characteristic  of  almost  all  herding  creatures.  Though 
banding  together  in  tens  of  thousands,  the  lion-maned  buffaloes 
of  the  West  have  fled  before  a  solitary  horseman.  Witness, 
too,  all  human  beings,  how  when  herded  together  in  the  sheep- 
fold  of  a  theatre's  pit,  they  will,  at  the  slightest  alarm  of  fire, 
rush  helter-skelter  for  the  outlets,  crowding,  trampling,  jamming, 
and  remorselessly  dashing  each  other  to  death.  Best,  therefore, 
withhold  any  amazement  at  the  strangely  gallied  whales  before 
us,  for  there  is  no  folly  of  the  beasts  of  the  earth  which  is  not 
infinitely  outdone  by  the  madness  of  men. 

Though  many  of  the  whales,  as  has  been  said,  were  in  violent 
motion,  yet  it  is  to  be  observed  that  as  a  whole  the  herd  neither 
advanced  nor  retreated,  but  collectively  remained  in  one  place. 
As  is  customary  in  those  cases,  the  boats  at  once  separated,  each 
making  for  some  one  lone  whale  on  the  outskirts  of  the  shoal. 
In  about  three  minutes'  time,  Queequeg's  harpoon  was  flung; 
the  stricken  fish  darted  blinding  spray  in  our  faces,  and  then 
running  away  with  us  like  light,  steered  straight  for  the  heart 
of  the  herd.     Though  such  a  movement  on  the  part  of  the 


THE    GRAND    ARMADA.  429 

whale  struck  under  such  circumstances,  is  in  no  wise  unpre- 
cedented ;  and  indeed  is  almost  always  more  or  less  anticipated ; 
yet  does  it  present  one  of  the  more  perilous  vicissitudes  of  the 
fishery.  For  as  the  swift  monster  drags  you  deeper  and  deeper 
into  the  frantic  shoal,  you  bid  adieu  to  circumspect  life  and  only 
exist  in  a  deli  nous  throb. 

As,  blind  and  deaf,  the  whale  plunged  forward,  as  if  by  sheer 
power  of  speed  to  rid  himself  of  the  iron  leech  that  had 
fastened  to  him ;  as  we  thus  tore  a  white  gash  in  the  sea,  on 
all  sides  menaced  as  we  flew,  by  the  crazed  creatures  to  and 
fro  rushing  about  us ;  our  beset  boat  was  like  a  ship  mobbed  by 
ice-isles  in  a  tempest,  and  striving  to  steer  through  their  com- 
plicated channels  and  straits,  knowing  not  at  what  moment  it 
may  be  locked  in  and  crushed. 

But  not  a  bit  daunted,  Queequeg  steered  us  manfully ;  now 
sheering  off  from  this  monster  directly  across  our  route  in  ad- 
vance ;  now  edging  away  from  that,  whose  colossal  flukes  were 
suspended  overhead,  while  all  the  time,  Starbuck  stood  up  in 
the  bows,  lance  in  hand,  pricking  out  of  our  way  whatever 
whales  he  could  reach  by  short  darts,  for  there  was  no  time  to 
make  long  ones.  'Nov  were  the  oarsmen  quite  idle,  though 
their  wonted  duty  was  now  altogether  dispensed  with.  They 
chiefly  attended  to  the  shouting  part  of  the  business.  "  Out 
of  the  way,  Commodore!"  cried  one,  to  a  great  dromedary  that 
of  a  sudden  rose  bodily  to  the  surface,  and  for  an  instant  threat- 
ened to  swamp  us.  "  Hard  down  with  your  tail,  there !"  cried 
a  second  to  another,  which,  close  to  our  gunwale,  seemed  calmly 
cooling  himself  with  his  own  fan-like  extremity. 

All  whaleboats  carry  certain  curious  contrivances,  originally 
invented  by  the  Nantucket  Indians,  called  druggs.  Two  thick 
squares  of  wood  of  equal  size  are  stoutly  clenched  together,  so 
that  they  cross  each  other's  grain  at  right  angles  ;  a  line  of  con- 
siderable length  is  then  attached  to  the  middle  of  this  block,  and 
the  other  end  of  the  line  being  looped,  it  can  in  a  moment  be 


430  THE    GRAND    ARMADA. 

fastened  to  a  harpoon.  It  is  chiefly  among  gallied  whales  that 
this  drugg  is  used.  For  then,  more  whales  are  close  round  you 
than  you  can  possibly  chase  at  one  time.  But  sperm  whales  are 
not  every  day  encountered ;  while  you  may,  then,  you  must  kill 
all  you  can.  And  if  you  cannot  kill  them  all  at  once,  you  must 
wing  them,  so  that  they  can  be  afterwards  killed  at  your  leisure. 
Hence  it  is,  that  at  times  like  these  the  drugg  comes  into 
requisition.  Our  boat  was  furnished  with  three  of  them.  The 
first  and  second  were  successfully  darted,  and  we  saw  the  whales 
staggeringly  running  off,  fettered  by  the  enormous  sidelong 
resistance  of  the  towing  drugg.  They  were  cramped  like  male- 
factors with  the  chain  and  ball.  But  upon  flinging  the  third,  in 
the  act  of  tossing  overboard  the  clumsy  wooden  block,  it  caught 
under  one  of  the  seats  of  the  boat,  and  in  an  instant  tore  it  out 
and  carried  it  away,  dropping  the  oarsman  in  the  boat's  bottom 
as  the  seat  slid  from  under  him.  On  both  sides  the  sea  came  in 
at  the  wounded  planks,  but  we  stuffed  two  or  three  drawers  and 
shirts  in,  and  so  stopped  the  leaks  for  the  time. 

It  had  been  next  to  impossible  to  dart  these  drugged-har- 
poons,  were  it  not  that  as  we  advanced  into  the  herd,  our 
whale's  way  greatly  diminished ;  moreover,  that  as  we  went  still 
further  and  further  from  the  circumference  of  commotion,  the 
direful  disorders  seemed  waning.  So  that  when  at  last  the 
jerking  harpoon  drew  out,  and  the  towing  whale  sideways  van- 
ished ;  then,  with  the  tapering  force  of  his  parting  momentum, 
we  glided  between  two  whales  into  the  innermost  heart  of  the 
shoal,  as  if  from  some  mountain  torrent  we  had  slid  into  a 
serene  valley  lake.  Here  the  storms  in  the  roaring  glens  be- 
tween the  outermost  whales,  were  heard  but  not  felt.  In  this 
central  expanse  the  sea  presented  that  smooth  satin-like  surface, 
called  a  sleek,  produced  by  the  subtle  moisture  thrown  off  by  the 
whale  in  his  more  quiet  moods.  Yes,  we  were  now  in  that 
enchanted  calm  which  they  say  lurks  at  the  heart  of  every  com- 
motion.    And  still  in  the  distracted  distance  we  beheld  the 


THE    GRAND    ARMADA.  431 

tumults  of  the  outer  concentric  circles,  and  saw  successive  pods 
of  whales,  eight  or  ten  in  each,  swiftly  going  round  and  round, 
like  multiplied  spans  of  horses  in  a  ring;  and  so  closely  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  that  a  Titanic  circus-rider  might  easily  have  over- 
arched the  middle  ones,  and  so  have  gone  round  on  their  backs. 
Owing  to  the  density  of  the  crowd  of  reposing  whales,  more 
immediately  surrounding  the  embayed  axis  of  the  herd,  no  pos- 
sible chance  of  escape  was  at  present  afforded  us.  We  must 
watch  for  a  breach  in  the  living  wall  that  hemmed  us  in ;  the 
wall  that  had  only  admitted  us  in  order  to  shut  us  up.  Keep- 
ing at  the  centre  of  the  lake,  we  were  occasionally  visited  by 
small  tame  cows  and  calves ;  the  women  and  children  of  this 
routed  host. 

Now,  inclusive  of  the  occasional  wide  intervals  between  the 
revolving  outer  circles,  and  inclusive  of  the  spaces  between  the 
various  pods  in  any  one  of  those  circles,  the  entire  area  at  this 
juncture,  embraced  by  the  whole  multitude,  must  have  contained 
at  least  two  or  three  square  miles.  At  any  rate — though  indeed 
such  a  test  at  such  a  time  might  be  deceptive — spoutings  might 
be  discovered  from  our  low  boat  that  seemed  playing  up  almost 
from  the  rim  of  the  horizon.  I  mention  this  circumstance, 
because,  as  if  the  cows  and  calves  had  been  pui-posely  locked  up 
in  this  innermost  fold ;  and  as  if  the  wide  extent  of  the  herd 
had  hitherto  prevented  them  from  learning  the  precise  cause  of 
its  stopping ;  or,  possibly,  being  so  young,  unsophisticated,  and 
every  way  innocent  and  inexperienced ;  however  it  may  have 
been,  these  smaller  whales — now  and  then  visiting  our  becalmed 
boat  from  the  margin  of  the  lake — evinced  a  wondrous  fearless- 
ness and  confidence,  or  else  a  still  becharmed  panic  which  it 
was  impossible  not  to  marvei  at.  Like  household  dogs  they 
came  snuffling  round  us,  right  up  to  our  gunwales,  and  touching 
them ;  till  it  almost  seemed  that  some  spell  had  suddenly 
domesticated  them.     Queequeg  patted  their  foreheads;  Star- 


432  THE    GRAND    ARMADA. 

buck  scratched  their  backs  with  his  lance ;  but  fearful  of  the 
consequences,  for  the  time  refrained  from  darting  it. 

But  far  beneath  this  wondrous  world  upon  the  surface, 
another  and  still  stranger  world  met  our  eyes  as  we  gazed  over 
the  side.  For,  suspended  in  those  watery  vaults,  floated  the 
forms  of  the  nursing  mothers  of  the  whales,  and  those  that  by 
their  enormous  girth  seemed  shortly  to  become  mothers.  The 
lake,  as  I  have  hinted,  was  to  a  considerable  depth  exceedingly 
transparent ;  and  as  human  infants  while  suckling  will  calmly 
and  fixedly  gaze  away  from  the  breast,  as  if  leading  two  differ- 
ent lives  at  the  time  ;  and  while  yet  drawing  mortal  nourishment, 
be  still  spiritually  feasting  upon  some  unearthly  reminiscence ; — 
even  so  did  the  young  of  these  whales  seem  looking  up  towards 
us,  but  not  at  us,  as  if  we  were  but  a  bit  of  Gulf-weed  in  their 
new-born  sight.  Floating  on  their  sides,  the  mothers  also 
seemed  quietly  eyeing  us.  One  of  these  little  infants,  that  from 
certain  queer  tokens  seemed  hardly  a  day  old,  might  have 
measured  some  fourteen  feet  in  length,  and  some  six  feet  in 
girth.  He  was  a  little  frisky  ;  though  as  yet  his  body  seemed 
scarce  yet  recovered  from  that  irksome  position  it  had  so  lately 
occupied  in  the  maternal  reticule  ;  where,  tail  to  head,  and  all 
ready  for  the  final  spring,  the  unborn  whale  lies  bent  like  a 
Tartar's  bow.  The  delicate  side-fins,  and  the  palms  of  his  flukes, 
still  freshly  retained  the  plaited  crumpled  appearance  of  a  baby's 
ears  newly  arrived  from  foreign  parts. 

"  Line !  line !"  cried  Queequeg,  looking  over  the  gunwale ; 
"  him  fast !  him  fast ! — Who  line  him !  Who  struck  ? — Two 
whale  ;  one  big,  one  little !" 

"  What  ails  ye,  man  ?"  cried  Starbuck. 

"  Look-e  here,"  said  Queequeg  pointing  down. 

As  when  the  stricken  whale,  that  from  the  tub  has  reeled  out 
hundreds  of  fathoms  of  rope  ;  as,  after  deep  sounding,  he  floats 
up  again,  and  shows  the  slackened  curling  line  buoyantly  rising 


THE    GRAND    ARMADA.  433 

and  spiralling  towards  the  air ;  so  now,  Star  buck  saw  long  coils 
of  the  umbilical  cord  of  Madame  Leviathan,  by  which  the  young 
cub  seemed  still  tethered  to  its  dam.  Not  seldom  in  the  rapid 
vicisitudes  of  the  chase,  this  natural  line,  with  the  maternal  end 
loose,  becomes  entangled  with  the  hempen  one,  so  that  the  cub 
is  thereby  trapped.  Some  of  the  subtlest  secrets  of  the  seas 
seemed  divulged  to  us  in  this  enchanted  pond.  We  saw  young 
Leviathan  amours  in  the  deep.* 

And  thus,  though  surrounded  by  circle  upon  circle  of  conster- 
nations and  affrights,  did  these  inscrutable  creatures  at  the 
centre  freely  and  fearlessly  indulge  in  all  peaceful  concernments ; 
yea,  serenely  revelled  in  dalliance  and  delight.  But  even  so, 
amid  the  tornadoed  Atlantic  of  my  being,  do  I  myself  still  for 
ever  centrally  disport  in  mute  calm  ;  and  while  ponderous  planets 
of  unwaning  woe  revolve  round  me,  deep  down  and  deep  inland 
there  I  still  bathe  me  in  eternal  mildness  of  joy. 

Meanwhile,  as  we  thus  lay  entranced,  the  occasional  sudden 
frantic  spectacles  in  the  distance  evinced  the  activity  of  the 
other  boats,  still  engaged  in  drugging  the  whales  on  the  frontier 
of  the  host ;  or  possibly  carrying  on  the  war  within  the  first 
circle,  where  abundance  of  room  and  some  convenient  retreats 
were  afforded  them.  But  the  sight  of  the  enraged  drugged 
whales  now  and  then  blindly  darting  to  and  fro  across  the 
circles,  was  nothing  to  what  at  last  met  our  eyes.     It  is  some- 

*  The  sperm  whale,  as  with  all  other  species  of  the  Leviathan,  but 
unlike  most  other  fish,  breeds  indifferently  at  all  seasons  ;  after  a  gesta- 
tion which  may  probably  be  set  down  at  nine  months,  producing  but  one  at 
a  time  ;  though  in  some  few  known  instances  giving  birth  to  an  Esau  and 
Jacob  : — a  contingency  provided  for  in  suckling  by  two  teats,  curiously 
situated,  one  on  each  side  of  the  anus  ;  but  the  breasts  themselves  extend 
upwards  from  that.  When  by  chance  these  precious  parts  in  a  nursing 
whale  are  cut  by  the  hunter's  lance,  the  mother's  pouring  milk  and  blood 
rivallingly  discolor  the  sea  for  rods.  The  milk  is  very  sweet  and  rich  ;  it 
has  been  tasted  by  man  ;  it  might  do  well  with  strawberries.  When  over- 
flowing with  mutual  esteem,  the  whales  salute  more  hominum. 

19 


434  THE    GRAND    ARMADA. 

times  the  custom  when  fast  to  a  whale  more  than  commonly 
powerful  and  alert,  to  seek  to  hamstring  him,  as  it  were,  by 
sundering  or  maiming  his  gigantic  tail-tendon.  It  is  done  by 
darting  a  short-handled  cutting-spade,  to  which  is  attached  a 
rope  for  hauling  it  back  again.  A  whale  wounded  (as  we  after- 
wards learned)  in  this  part,  but  not  effectually,  as  it  seemed, 
had  broken  away  from  the  boat,  carrying  along  with  him  half 
of  the  harpoon  line;  and  in  the  extraordinary  agony  of  the 
wound,  he  was  now  dashing  among  the  revolving  circles  like  the 
lone  mounted  desperado  Arnold,  at  the  battle  of  Saratoga,  car- 
rying dismay  wherever  he  went. 

But  agonizing  as  was  the  wound  of  this  whale,  and  an  appal- 
ling spectacle  enough,  any  way ;  yet  the  peculiar  horror  with 
which  he  seemed  to  inspire  the  rest  of  the  herd,  was  owing  to 
a  cause  which  at  first  the  intervening  distance  obscured  from  us. 
But  at  length  we  perceived  that  by  one  of  the  unimaginable 
accidents  of  the  fishery,  this  whale  had  become  entangled  in  the 
harpoon-line  that  he  towed ;  he  had  also  run  away  with  the 
cutting-spade  in  him ;  and  while  the  free  end  of  the  rope  attached 
to  that  weapon,  had  permanently  caught  in  the  coils  of  the  har- 
poon-line round  his  tail,  the  cutting-spade  itself  had  worked 
loose  from  his  flesh.  So  that  tormented  to  madness,  he  was 
now  churning  through  the  water,  violently  flailing  with  his  flex- 
ible tail,  and  tossing  the  keen  spade  about  him,  wounding  and 
murdering  his  own  comrades. 

This  terrific  object  seemed  to  recall  the  whole  herd  from  their 
stationary  fright.  First,  the  whales  forming  the  margin  of  our 
lake  began  to  crowd  a  little,  and  tumble  against  each  other,  as 
if  lifted  by  half  spent  billows  from  afar ;  then  the  lake  itself 
began  faintly  to  heave  and  swell ;  the  submarine  bridal-chambers 
and  nurseries  vanished  ;  in  more  and  more  contracting  orbits  the 
whales  in  the  more  central  circles  began  to  swim  in  thickening 
clusters.  Yes,  the  long  calm  was  departing.  A  low  advancing 
hum  was  soon  heard  ;  and  then  like  to  the  tumultuous  masses 


THE    GRAND   ARMADA.  435 

of  block-ice  when  the  great  river  Hudson  breaks  up  in  Spring, 
the  entire  host  of  whales  came  tumbling  upon  their  inner  centre, 
as  if  to  pile  themselves  up  in  one  common  mountain.  Instantly 
Starbuck  and  Queequeg  changed  places  ;  Starbuck  taking  the 
stern. 

"  Oars !  Oars  !"  he  intensely  whispered,  seizing  the  helm — 
"  gripe  your  oars,  and  clutch  your  souls,  now  !  My  God,  men, 
stand  by !  Shove  him  off,  you  Queequeg — the  whale  there  ! 
— prick  him  ! — hit  him  !  Stand  up — stand  up,  and  stay  so ! 
Spring,  men — pull,  men ;  never  mind  their  backs — scrape  them ! 
— scrape  away !" 

The  boat  was  now  all  but  jammed  between  two  vast  black 
bulks,  leaving  a  narrow  Dardanelles  between  their  long  lengths. 
But  by  desperate  endeavor  we  at  last  shot  into  a  temporary 
opening ;  then  giving  way  rapidly,  and  at  the  same  time  earnestly 
watching  for  another  outlet.  After  many  similar  hair-breadth 
escapes,  we  at  last  swiftly  glided  into  what  had  just  been  one 
of  the  outer  circles,  but  now  crossed  by  random  whales,  all 
violently  making  for  one  centre.  This  lucky  salvation  was 
cheaply  purchased  by  the  loss  of  Queequeg's  hat,  who,  while 
standing  in  the  bows  to  prick  the  fugitive  whales,  had  his  hat 
taken  clean  from  his  head  by  the  air-eddy  made  by  the  sudden 
tossing  of  a  pair  of  broad  flukes  close  by. 

Eiotous  and  disordered  as  the  universal  commotion  now  was, 
it  soon  resolved  itself  into  what  seemed  a  systematic  movement ; 
for  having  clumped  together  at  last  in  one  dense  body,  they  then 
renewed  their  onward  flight  with  augmented  fleetness.  Further 
pursuit  was  useless ;  but  the  boats  still  lingered  in  their  wake  to 
pick  up  what  drugged  whales  might  be  dropped  astern,  and 
likewise  to  secure  one  which  Flask  had  killed  and  waifed.  The 
waif  is  a  pennoned  pole,  two  or  three  of  which  are  carried  by 
every  boat ;  and  which,  when  additional  game  is  at  hand,  are 
inserted  upright  into  the  floating  body  of  a  dead  whale,  both  to 


436         SCHOOLS    AND    SCHOOLMASTERS. 

mark  its  place  on  the  sea,  and  also  as  token  of  prior  possession, 
should  the  boats  of  any  other  ship  draw  near. 

The  result  of  this  lowering  was  somewhat  illustrative  of  that 
sagacious  saying  in  the  Fishery, — the  more  whales  the  less  fish. 
Of  all  the  drugged  whales  only  one  was  captured.  The  rest 
contrived  to  escape  for  the  time,  but  only  to  be  taken,  as  will 
hereafter  be  seen,  by  some  other  craft  than  the  Pequod. 


CHAPTER  LXXXVIII. 

SCHOOLS    AND    SCHOOLMASTERS. 

The  previous  chapter  gave  account  of  an  immense  body  or 
herd  of  Sperm  Whales,  and  there  was  also  then  given  the  pro- 
bable cause  inducing  those  vast  aggregations. 

Now,  though  such  great  bodies  are  at  times  encountered,  yet, 
as  must  have  been  seen,  even  at  the  present  day,  small  detached 
bands  are  occasionally  observed,  embracing  from  twenty  to  fifty 
individuals  each.  Such  bands  are  known  as  schools.  They 
generally  are  of  two  sorts ;  those  composed  almost  entirely  of 
females,  and  those  mustering  none  but  young  vigorous  males, 
or  bulls,  as  they  are  familiarly  designated. 

In  cavalier  attendance  upon  the  school  of  females,  you  inva- 
riably see  a  male  of  full  grown  magnitude,  but  not  old ;  who, 
upon  any  alarm,  evinces  his  gallantry  by  falling  in  the  rear  and 
covering  the  flight  of  his  ladies.  In  truth,  this  gentleman  is  a 
luxurious  Ottoman,  swimming  about  over  the  watery  world, 
surroundingly  accompanied  by  all  the  solaces  and  endearments 
of  the  harem.  The  contrast  between  this  Ottoman  and  his  con- 
cubines is  striking ;  because,  while  he  is  always  of  the  largest 
leviathanic  proportions,  the  ladies,  even  at  full  growth,  are  not 
more  than  one  third  of  the  bulk  of  an  average-sized  male.   They 


SCHOOLS  AND  SCHOOLMASTERS.   437 

are  comparatively  delicate,  indeed ;  I  dare  say,  not  to  exceed 
half  a  dozen  yards  round  the  waist.  Nevertheless,  it  cannot  be 
denied,  that  upon  the  whole  they  are  hereditarily  entitled  to 
en  bon  point. 

It  is  very  curious  to  watch  this  harem  and  its  lord  in  their 
indolent  ramblings.  Like  fashionables,  they  are  for  ever  on 
the  move  in  leisurely  search  of  variety.  You  meet  them  on  the 
Line  in  time  for  the  full  flower  of  the  Equatorial  feeding  season, 
having  just  returned,  perhaps,  from  spending  the  summer  in  the 
Northern  seas,  and  so  cheating  summer  of  all  unpleasant 
weariness  and  warmth.  By  the  time  they  have  lounged  up 
and  down  the  promenade  of  the  Equator  awhile,  they  start  for 
the  Oriental  waters  in  anticipation  of  the  cool  season  there,  and 
so  evade  the  other  excessive  temperature  of  the  year. 

When  serenely  advancing  on  one  of  these  journeys,  if  any 
strange  suspicious  sights  are  seen,  my  lord  whale  keeps  a  wary 
eye  on  his  interesting  family.  Should  any  unwarrantably  pert 
young  Leviathan  coming  that  way,  presume  to  draw  confiden- 
tially close  to  one  of  the  ladies,  with  what  prodigious  fury  the 
Bashaw  assails  him,  and  chases  him  away !  High  times,  in- 
deed, if  unprincipled  young  rakes  like  him  are  to  be  permitted  to 
invade  the  sanctity  of  domestic  bliss ;  though  do  what  the 
Bashaw  will,  he  cannot  keep  the  most  notorious  Lothario  out 
of  his  bed ;  for,  alas  !  all  fish  bed  in  common.  As  ashore,  the 
ladies  often  cause  the  most  terrible  duels  among  their  rival  ad- 
mirers ;  just  so  with  the  whales,  who  sometimes  come  to  deadly 
battle,  and  all  for  love.  They  fence  with  their  long  lower  jaws, 
sometimes  locking  them  together,  and  so  striving  for  the  supre- 
macy like  elks  that  warringly  interweave  their  antlers.  Not  a 
few  are  captured  having  the  deep  scars  of  these  encounters, — 
furrowed  heads,  broken  teeth,  scolloped  fins ;  and  in  some  in- 
stances, wrenched  and  dislocated  mouths. 

But  supposing  the  invader  of  domestic  bliss  to  betake  him- 
self away  at  the  first  rush  of  the  harem's,  lord,  then  is  it  very 


438   SCHOOLS  AND  SCHOOLMASTERS. 

diverting  to  watch  that  lord.  Gently  he  insinuates  his  vast  bulk 
among  them  again  and  revels  there  awhile,  still  in  tantalizing 
vicinity  to  young  Lothario,  like  pious  Solomon  devoutly  worship- 
ping among  his  thousand  concubines.  Granting  other  whales 
to  be  in  sight,  the  fishermen  will  seldom  give  chase  to  one  of 
these  Grand  Turks  ;  for  these  Grand  Turks  are  too  lavish  of  their 
strength,  and  hence  their  unctuousness  is  small.  As  for  the 
sons  and  the  daughters  they  beget,  why,  those  sons  and  daugh- 
ters must  take  care  of  themselves ;  at  least,  with  only  the  ma- 
ternal help.  For  like  certain  other  omnivorous  roving  lovers 
that  might  be  named,  my  Lord  Whale  has  no  taste  for  the 
nursery,  however  much  for  the  bower ;  and  so,  being  a  great 
traveller,  he  leaves  his  anonymous  babies  all  over  the 
world;  every  baby  an  exotic.  In  good  time,  nevertheless, 
as  the  ardor  of  youth  declines ;  as  years  and  dumps  in- 
crease ;  as  reflection  lends  her  solemn  pauses ;  in  short,  as  a 
general  lassitude  overtakes  the  sated  Turk ;  then  a  love  of  ease 
and  virtue  supplants  the  love  for  maidens ;  our  Ottoman  enters 
upon  the  impotent,  repentant,  admonitory  stage  of  life,  for- 
swears, disbands  the  harem,  and  grown  to  an  exemplary,  sulky 
old  soul,  goes  about  all  alone  among  the  meridians  and  parallels 
saying  his  prayers,  and  warning  each  young  Leviathan  from  his 
amorous  errors. 

Now,  as  the  harem  of  whales  is  called  by  the  fishermen  a 
school,  so  is  the  lord  and  master  of  that  school  technically  known 
as  the  schoolmaster.  It  is  therefore  not  in  strict  character,  how- 
ever admirably  satirical,  that  after  going  to  school  himself,  ho 
should  then  go  abroad  inculcating  not  what  he  learned  there, 
but  the  folly  of  it.  His  title,  schoolmaster,  would  very  naturally 
seem  derived  from  the  name  bestowed  upon  the  harem  itself, 
but  some  have  surmised  that  the  man  who  first  thus  entitled 
this  sort  of  Ottoman  whale,  must  have  read  the  memoirs  of 
Vidocq,  and  informed  himself  what  sort  of  a  country-school- 
master that  famous  Frenchman  was  in  his  younger  days,  and 


SCHOOLS    AND    SCHOOLMASTERS.        439 

what  was  the  nature  of  those  occult  lessons  he  inculcated  into 
some  of  his  pupils. 

The  same  secludedness  and  isolation  to  which  the  schoolmaster 
whale  betakes  himself  in  his  advancing  years,  is  true  of  all  aged 
Sperm  Whales.  Almost  universally,  a  lone  whale — as  a  solitary 
Leviathan  is  called — proves  an  ancient  one.  Like  venerable 
moss-bearded  Daniel  Boone,  he  will  have  no  one  near  him  but 
Nature  herself ;  and  her  he  takes  to  wife  in  the  wilderness  of 
waters,  and  the  best  of  wives  she  is,  though  she  keeps  so  many 
moody  secrets. 

The  schools  composing  none  but  young  and  vigorous  males, 
previously  mentioned,  offer  a  strong  contrast  to  the  harem  schools. 
For  while  those  female  whales  are  characteristically  timid,  the 
young  males,  or  forty-barrel-bulls,  as  they  call  them,  are  by  far 
the  most  pugnacious  of  all  Leviathans,  and  proverbially  the 
most  dangerous  to  encounter ;  excepting  those  wondrous  grey- 
headed, grizzled  whales,  sometimes  met,  and  these  will  fight 
you  like  grim  fiends  exasperated  by  a  penal  gout. 

The  Forty-barrel-bull  schools  are  larger  than  the  harem 
schools.  Like  a  mob  of  young  collegians,  they  are  full  of  fight, 
fun,  and  wickedness,  tumbling  round  the  world  at  such  a  reck- 
less, rollicking  rate,  that  no  prudent  underwriter  would  insure 
them  any  more  than  he  would  a  riotous  lad  at  Yale  or  Harvard. 
They  soon  relinquish  this  turbulence  though,  and  when  about 
three  fourths  grown,  break  up,  and  separately  go  about  in  quest 
of  settlements,  that  is,  harems. 

Another  point  of  difference  between  the  male  and  female 
schools  is  still  more  characteristic  of  the  sexes.  Say  you  strike 
a  Forty-barrel-bull — poor  devil !  all  his  comrades  quit  him.  But 
strike  a  member  of  the  harem  school,  and  her  companions  swim 
around  her  with  every  token  of  concern,  sometimes  lingering  so 
near  her  and  so  long,  as  themselves  to  fall  a  prey. 


440  FAST-FISH    AND    LOOSE-FISH. 


CHAPTER  LXXXIX. 

FAST-FISH    AND    LOOSE-FISH. 

The  allusion  to  the  waife  and  waif-poles  in  the  last  chapter 
but  one,  necessitates  some  account  of  the  laws  and  regulations 
of  the  whale  fishery,  of  which  the  waif  may  be  deemed  the 
grand  symbol  and  badge. 

It  frequently  happens  that  when  several  ships  are  cruising  in 
company,  a  whale  may  be  struck  by  one  vessel,  then  escape, 
and  be  finally  killed  and  captured  by  another  vessel ;  and  herein 
are  indirectly  comprised  many  minor  contingencies,  all  partaking 
of  this  one  grand  feature.  For  example, — after  a  weary  and 
perilous  chase  and  capture  of  a  whale,  the  body  may  get  loose 
from  the  ship  by  reason  of  a  violent  storm ;  and  drifting  far 
away  to  leeward,  be  retaken  by  a  second  whaler,  who,  in  a 
calm,  snugly  tows  it  alongside,  without  risk  of  life  or  line.  Thus 
the  most  vexatious  and  violent  disputes  would  often  arise 
between  the  fishermen,  were  there  not  some  written  or  unwrit- 
ten, universal,  undisputed  law  applicable  to  all  cases. 

Perhaps  the  only  formal  whaling  code  authorized  by  legisla- 
tive enactment,  was  that  of  Holland.  It  was  decreed  by  the 
States-General  in  A.D.  1695.  But  though  no  other  nation  has 
ever  had  any  written  whaling  law,  yet  the  American  fishermen 
have  been  their  own  legislators  and  lawyers  in  this  matter. 
They  have  provided  a  system  which  for  terse  comprehensive- 
ness surpasses  Justinian's  Pandects  and  the  By-laws  of  the 
Chinese  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Meddling  with  other 
People's  Business.  Yes ;  these  laws  might  be  engraven  on  a 
Queen  Anne's  farthing,  or  the  barb  of  a  harpoon,  and  worn 
round  the  neck,  so  small  are  they. 


FAST- FISH    AND    LOOSE-FISH.  441 

I.  A  Fast-Fish  belongs  to  the  party  fast  to  it. 

II.  A  Loose-Fish  is  fair  game  for  anybody  who  can  soonest 
catch  it. 

But  what  plays  the  mischief  with  this  masterly  code  is  the 
admirable  brevity  of  it,  which  necessitates  a  vast  volume  of  com- 
mentaries to  expound  it. 

First :  What  is  a  Fast-Fish  ?  Alive  or  dead  a  fish  is  techni- 
cally fast,  when  it  is  connected  with  an  occupied  ship  or  boat, 
by  any  medium  at  all  controllable  by  the  occupant  or  occu- 
pants,— a  mast,  an  oar,  a  nine-inch  cable,  a  telegraph  wire,  or  a 
strand  of  cobweb,  it  is  all  the  same.  Likewise  a  fish  is  techni- 
cally fast  when  it  bears  a  waif,  or  any  other  recognised  symbol 
of  possession ;  so  long  as  the  party  waifing  it  plainly  evince  their 
ability  at  any  time  to  take  it  alongside,  as  well  as  their  inten- 
tion so  to  do. 

These  are  scientific  commentaries  ;  but  the  commentaries  of 
the  whalemen  themselves  sometimes  consist  in  hard  words  and 
harder  knocks — the  Coke-upon-Littleton  of  the  fist.  True, 
among  the  more  upright  and  honorable  whalemen  allowances 
are  always  made  for  peculiar  cases,  where  it  would  be  an  outra- 
geous moral  injustice  for  one  party  to  claim  possession  of  a 
whale  previously  chased  or  killed  by  another  party.  But  others 
are  by  no  means  so  scrupulous.  < 

Some  fifty  years  ago  there  was  a  curious  case  of  whale-trover 
litigated  in  England,  wherein  the  plaintiffs  set  forth  that  after  a 
hard  chase  of  a  whale  in  the  Northern  seas ;  and  when  indeed 
they  (the  plaintiffs)  had  succeeded  in  harpooning  the  fish ;  they 
were  at  last,  through  peril  of  their  lives,  obliged  to  forsake  not 
only  their  lines,  but  their  boat  itself.  Ultimately  the  defendants 
(the  crew  of  another  ship)  came  up  with  the  whale,  struck, 
killed,  seized,  and  finally  appropriated  it  before  the  very  eyes  ol 
the  plaintiffs.  And  when  those  defendants  were  remonstrated 
with,  their  captain  snapped  his  fingers  in  the  plaintiffs'  teeth, 
and  assured  them  that  by  way  of  doxology  to  the  deed  he  had 
19* 


442  FAST -FISH    AND    LOOSE- FISH. 

done,  he  would  now  retain  their  line,  harpoons,  and  boat,  which 
had  remained  attached  to  the  whale  at  the  time  of  the  seizure- 
Wherefore  the  plaintiffs  now  sued  for  the  recovery  of  the 
value  of  their  whale,  line,  harpoons,  and  boat. 

Mr.  Erskine  was  counsel  for  the  defendants ;  Lord  Ellen- 
borough  was  the  judge.  In  the  course  of  the  defence,  the  witty 
Erskine  went  on  to  illustrate  his  position,  by  alluding  to  a 
recent  crim.  con.  case,  wherein  a  gentleman,  after  in  vain  trying 
to  bridle  his  wife's  viciousness,  had  at  last  abandoned  her  upon 
the  seas  of  life ;  but  in  the  course  of  years,  repenting  of  that 
step,  he  instituted  an  action  to  recover  possession  of  her.  Ers- 
kine was  on  the  other  side ;  and  he  then  supported  it  by  saying, 
that  though  the  gentleman  had  originally  harpooned  the  lady, 
and  had  once  had  her  fast,  and  only  by  reason  of  the  great 
stress  of  her  plunging  viciousness,  had  at  last  abandoned  her ; 
yet  abandon  her  he  did,  so  that  she  became  a  loose-fish ;  and 
therefore  when  a  subsequent  gentleman  re-harpooned  her,  the 
lady  then  became  that  subsequent  gentleman's  property,  along 
with  whatever  harpoon  might  have  been  found  sticking  in 
her. 

Now  in  the  present  case  Erskine  contended  that  the  exam- 
ples of  the  whale  and  the  lady  were'  reciprocally  illustrative 
of 'each  other. 

These  pleadings,  and  the  counter  pleadings,  being  duly  heard, 
the  veiy  learned  judge  in  set  terms  decided,  to  wit, — That  as 
for  the  boat,  he  awarded  it  to  the  plaintiffs,  because  they  had 
merely  abandoned  it  to  save  their  lives ;  but  that  with  regard  to 
the  controverted  whale,  harpoons,  and  line,  they  belonged  to  the 
defendants ;  the  whale,  because  it  was  a  Loose-Fish  at  the  time 
of  the  final  capture ;  and  the  harpoons  and  line  because  when 
the  fish  made  off  with  them,  it  (the  fish)  acquired  a  property  in 
those  articles ;  and  hence  anybody  who  afterwards  took  the 
fish  had  a  right  to  them.  Now  the  plaintiffs  afterwards  took 
the  fish ;  ergo,  the  aforesaid  articles  were  theirs. 


FAST -FISH    AND    LOOSE-FISH.  443 

A  common  man  looking  at  this  decision  of  the  very  learned 
Judge,  might  possibly  object  to  it.  But  ploughed  up  to  the 
primary  rock  of  the  matter,  the  two  great  principles  laid  down 
in  the  twin  whaling  laws  previously  quoted,  and  applied  and 
elucidated  by  Lord  Ellenborough  in  the  above  cited  case ;  these 
two  laws  touching  Fast-Fish  and  Loose-Fish,  I  say,  will,  on 
reflection,  be  found  the  fundamentals  of  all  human  jurispru-' 
dence  ;  for  notwithstanding  its  complicated  tracery  of  sculpture, 
the  Temple  of  the  Law,  like  the  Temple  of  the  Philistines,  has 
but  two  props  to  stand  on. 

Is  it  not  a  saying  in  every  one's  mouth,  Possession  is  half  of 
the  law  :  that  is,  regardless  of  how  the  thing  came  into  pos- 
session ?  But  often  possession  is  the  whole  of  the  law.  What 
are  the  sinews  and  souls  of  Russian  serfs  and  Republican  slaves 
but  Fast-Fish,  whereof  possession  is  the  whole  of  the  law  ? 
"What  to  the  rapacious  landlord  is  the  widow's  last  mite  but  a 
Fast-Fish  ?  What  is  yonder  undetected  villain's  marble 
mansion  with  a  door-plate  for  a  waif ;  what  is  that  but  a  Fast- 
Fish  ?  What  is  the  ruinous  discount  which  Mordecai,  the 
broker,  gets  from  poor  Woebegone,  the  bankrupt,  on  a  loan  to 
keep  Woebegone's  family  from  starvation  ;  what  is  that  ruinous 
discount  but  a  Fast-Fish  ?  What  is  the  Archbishop  of  Save- 
soul's  income  of  £100,000  seized  from  the  scant  bread  and 
cheese  of  hundreds  of  thousands  of  broken-backed  laborers  (all 
sure  of  heaven  without  any  of  Savesoul's  help)  what  is  that 
globular  100,000  but  a  Fast-Fish  ?  What  are  the  Duke  of 
Dunder's  hereditary  towns  and  hamlets  but  Fast-Fish  ?  What 
to  that  redoubted  harpooneer,  John  Bull,  is  poor  Ireland,  but  a  ' 
Fast-Fish  ?  What  to  that  apostolic  lancer,  Brother  Jonathan, 
is  Texas  but  a  Fast-Fish  ?  And  concerning  all  these,  is  not 
Possession  the  whole  of  the  law  ? 

But  if  the  doctrine  of  Fast- Fish  be  pretty  generally  applica- 
ble,  the  kindred  doctrine  of  Loose-Fish  is  still  more  widely  so. 
That  is  internationally  and  universally  applicable. 


444  HEADS    OR    TAILS. 

What  was  America  in  1492  but  a  Loose-Fish,  in  which 
Columbus  struck  the  Spanish  standard  by  way  of  waiting  it 
for  his  royal  master  and  mistress  ?  What  was  Poland  to  the 
Czar  ?  What  Greece  to  the  Turk  ?  What  India  to  England  ? 
What  at  last  will  Mexico  be  to  the  United  States  ?  All  Loose- 
Fish. 

What  are  the  Rights  of  Man  and  the  Liberties  of  the  World 
but  Loose-Fish  ?  What  all  men's  minds  and  opinions  but 
Loose-Fish  ?  What  is  the  principle  of  religious  belief  in  them 
but  a  Loose-Fish?  What  to  the  ostentatious  smuggling 
verbalists  are  the  thoughts  of  thinkers  but  Loose-Fish  ?  What 
is  the  great  globe  itself  but  a  Loose-Fish  ?  And  what  are  you, 
reader,  but  a  Loose-Fish  and  a  Fast-Fish,  too  ? 


CHAPTER  XC. 

HEADS    OR   TAILS. 

"  De  balena  vero  sufficit,  si  rex  habeat  caput,  et  regina  caudam." 

Br  acton,  I.  3,  c.  3. 

Latin  from  the  books  of  the  Laws  of  England,  which  taken 
along  with  the  context,  means,  that  of  all  whales  captured  by 
anybody  on  the  coast  of  that  land,  the  King,  as  Honorary 
Grand  Harpooneer,  must  have  the  head,  and  the  Queen  be 
respectfully  presented  with  the  tail.  A  division  which,  in. the 
whale,  is  much  like  halving  an  apple ;  there  is  no  intermediate 
remainder.  Now  as  this  law,  under  a  modified  form,  is  to  this 
day  in  force  in  England;  and  as  it  offers  in. various  respects  a 
strange  anomaly  touching  the  general  law  of  Fast  and  Loose- 
Fish,  it  is  here  treated  of  in  a  separate  chapter,  on  the  same 
courteous  principle  that  prompts  the  English  railways  to  be  at 
the  expense  of  a  separate  car,  specially  reserved  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  royalty.     In  the  first  place,  in  curious  proof  of  the 


HEADS    OR    TAILS.  445 

fact  that  the  above-mentioned  law  is  still  in  force,  I  proceed  to 
lay  before  you  a  circumstance  that  happened  within  the  last 
two  years. 

It  seems  that  some  honest  mariners  of  Dover,  or  Sandwich,  or 
some  one  of  the  Cinque  Ports,  had  after  a  hard  chase  succeeded 
in  killing  and  beaching  a  fine  whale  which  they  had  originally 
descried  afar  off  from  the  shore.  Now  the  Cinque  Ports  are  partially 
or  somehow  under  the  jurisdiction  of  a  sort  of  policeman  or  beadle, 
called  a  Lord  Warden.  Holding  the  office  directly  from  the 
crown,  I  believe,  all  the  royal  emoluments  incident  to  the  Cinque 
Port  territories  become  by  assignment  his.  By  some  writers 
this  office  is  called  a  sinecure.  But  not  so.  Because  the  Lord 
"Warden  is  busily  employed  at  times  in  fobbing  his  perquisites  ; 
which  are  his  chiefly  by  virtue  of  that  same  fobbing  of  them. 

Now  when  these  poor  sun-burnt  mariners,  bare-footed,  and 
with  their  trowsers  rolled  high  up  on  their  eely  legs,  had  wear- 
ily hauled  their  fat  fish  high  and  dry,  promising  themselves  a 
good  £150  from  the  precious  oil  and  bone;  and  in  fantasy 
sipping  rare  tea  with  their  wives,  and  good  ale  with  their 
cronies,  upon  the  strength  of  their  respective  shares  ;  up  steps  a 
very  learned  and  most  Christian  and  charitable  gentleman,  with 
a  copy  of  Blackstone  under  his  arm  ;  and  laying  it  upon  the 
whale's  head,  he  says — "  Hands  off!  this  fish,  my  masters,  is  a 
Fast-Fish.  I  seize  it  as  the  Lord  Warden's."  Upon  this  the 
poor  mariners  in  their  respectful  consternation — so  truly  English 
— knowing  not  what  to  say,  fall  to  vigorously  scratching  their 
heads  all  round ;  meanwhile  ruefully  glancing  from  the  whale 
to  the  stranger.  But  that  did  in  nowise  mend  the  matter,  or  at 
all  soften  the  hard  heart  of  the  learned  gentleman  with  the 
copy  of  Blackstone.  At  length  one  of  them,  after  long  scratch- 
ing about  for  his  ideas,  made  bold  to  speak. 

"  Please,  sir,  who  is  the  Lord  Warden  ?" 

"  The  Duke." 

"  But  the  duke  had  nothing  to  do  with  taking  this  fish  ?" 


446  HEADS    OR    TAILS. 

"  It  is  his." 

"  We  have  been  at  great  trouble,  and  peril,  and  some 
expense,  and  is  all  that  to  go  to  the  Duke's  benefit ;  we  getting 
nothing  at  all  for  our  pains  but  our  blisters  ?" 

"  It  is  his." 

"  Is  the  Duke  so  veiy  poor  as  to  be  forced  to  this  desperate 
mode  of  getting  a  livelihood  V 

"  It  is  his." 

"  I  thought  to  relieve  my  old  bed-ridden  mother  by  part  of 
my  share  of  this  whale." 

"  It  is  his." 

"  Won't  the  Duke  be  content  with  a  quarter  or  a  half?" 

"  It  is  his." 

In  a  word,  the  whale  was  seized  and  sold,  and  his  Grace  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  received  the  money.  Thinking  that  viewed 
in  some  particular  lights,  the  case  might  by  a  bare  possibility  in 
some  small  degree  be  deemed,  under  the  circumstances,  a  rather 
hard  one,  an  honest  clergyman  of  the  town  respectfully  ad- 
dressed a  note  to  his  Grace,  begging  him  to  take  the  case  of 
those  unfortunate  mariners  into  full  consideration.  To  which  my 
Lord  Duke  in  substance  replied  (both  letters  were  published) 
that  he  had  already  done  so,  and  received  the  money,  and 
would  be  obliged  to  the  reverend  gentleman  if  for  the  future  he 
(the  reverend  gentleman)  would  decline  meddling  with  other 
people's  business.  Is  this  the  still  militant  old  man,  standing 
at  the  corners  of  the  three  kingdoms,  on  all  hands  coercing  alms 
of  beggars  ? 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  in  this  case  the  alleged  right  of 
the  Duke  to  the  whale  was  a  delegated  one  from  the  Sovereign. 
We  must  needs  inquire  then  on  what  principle  the  Sovereign  is 
originally  invested  with  that  right.  The  law  itself  has  already 
been  set  forth.  But  Plowdon  gives  us  the  reason  for  it.  Says 
Plowdon,  the  whale  so  caught  belongs  to  the  King  and 
Queen,  "  because  of  its  superior  excellence. "      And  by  the 


THE    ROSE-BUD.  447 

soundest  commentators  this  has  ever  been  held  a  cogent  argu- 
ment in  such  matters. 

But  why  should  the  King  have  the  head,  and  the  Queen  the 
tail  ?     A  reason  for  that,  ye  lawyers  ! 

In  his  treatise  on  "  Queen-Gold,"  or  Queen-pinmoney,  an  old 
King's  Bench  author,  one  William  Prynne,  thus  discourseth  : 
"  Ye  tail  is  ye  Queen's,  that  ye  Queen's  warbrobe  may  be  sup- 
plied with  ye  whalebone.''  Now  this  was  written  at  a  time 
when  the  black  limber -bone  of  the  Greenland  or  Right  whale 
was  largely  used  in  ladies'  bodices.  But  this  same  bone  is  not 
in  the  tail ;  it  is  in  the  head,  which  is  a  sad  mistake  for  a  saga- 
cious lawyer  like  Piynne.  But  is  the  Queen  a  mermaid,  to  be 
presented  with  a  tail  ?     An  allegorical  meaning  may  lurk  here. 

There  are  two  royal  fish  so  styled  by  the  English  law 
writers — the  whale  and  the  sturgeon ;  both  royal  property  under 
certain  limitations,  and  nominally  supplying  the  tenth  branch 
of  the  crown's  ordinary  revenue.  I  know  not  that  any  other 
author  has  hinted  of  the  matter ;  but  by  inference  it  seems  to 
me  that  the  sturgeon  must  be  divided  in  the  same  way  as  the 
whale,  the  King  receiving  the  highly  dense  and  elastic  head 
peculiar  to  that  fish,  which,  symbolically  regarded,  may  possibly 
be  humorously  grounded  upon  some  presumed  congeniality. 
And  thus  there  seems  a  reason  in  all  things,  even  in  law. 


CHAPTER  XCI. 

THE    PEQUOD    MEETS    THE  RQSE-BUD. 

*  In  vain  it  was  to  rake  for  Ambergriese  in  the  paunch  of  this  Leviathan, 
insufferable  fetor  denying  not  inquiry." 

Sir  T.  Browne,  V.  E. 

It  was  a  week  or  two  after  the  last  whaling  scene  recounted, 
and  when  we  were  slowly  sailing  over  a  sleepy,  vapory,  mid-day 


448  THE    ROSE-BUD. 


sea,  that  the  many  noses  on  the  Pequod's  deck  proved  more 
vigilant  discoverers  than  the  three  pairs  of  eyes  aloft.  A 
peculiar  and  not  very  pleasant  smell  was  smelt  in  the  sea. 

"I  will  bet  something  now,"  said  Stubb,  "that  somewhere 
hereabouts  are  some  of  those  drugged  whales  we  tickled  the 
other  day.     I  thought  they  would  keel  up  before  long." 

Presently,  the  vapors  in  advance  slid  aside ;  and  there  in  the 
distance  lay  a  ship,  whose  furled  sails  betokened  that  some  sort 
of  whale  must  be  alongside.  As  we  glided  nearer,  the  stranger 
showed  French  colore  from  his  peak ;  and  by  the  eddying  cloud 
of  vulture  sea-fowl  that  circled,  and  hovered,  and  swooped 
around  him,  it  was  plain  that  the  whale  alongside  must  be  what 
the  fishermen  call  a  blasted  whale,  that  is,  a  whale  that  has 
died  unmolested  on  the  sea,  and  so  floated  an  unappropriated 
corpse.  It  may  well  be  conceived,  what  an  unsavory  odor  such 
a  mass  must  exhale ;  worse  than  an  Assyrian  city  in  the  plague, 
when  the  living  are  incompetent  to  bury  the  departed.  So  intolera- 
ble indeed  is  it  regarded  by  some,  that  no  cupidity  could  per- 
suade them  to  moor  alongside  of  it.  Yet  are  there  those  who 
will  still  do  it ;  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  oil  obtained 
from  such  subjects  is  of  a  very  inferior  quality,  and  by  no  means 
of  the  nature  of  attar-of-rose. 

Coming  still  nearer  with  the  expiring  breeze,  we  saw  that  the 
Frenchman  had  a  second  whale  alongside ;  and  this  second 
whale  seemed  even  more  of  a  nosegay  than  the  first.  In  truth, 
it  turned  out  to  be  one  of  those  problematical  whales  that  seem 
to  dry  up  and  die  with  a  sort  of  prodigious  dyspepsia,  or  indi- 
gestion ;  leaving  their  defunct  bodies  almost  entirely  bankrupt 
of  anything  like  oil.  Nevertheless,  in  the  proper  place  we  shall 
see  that  no  knowing  fisherman  will  ever  turn  up  his  nose  at 
such  a  whale  as  this,  however  much  he  may  shun  blasted  whales 
in  general. 

The  Pequod  had  now  swept  so  nigh  to  the  stranger,  that  Stubb 
vowed  he  recognised  his  cutting  spade-pole  entangled  in  the 


THE    ROSE-BUD.  449 

lines  that  were  knotted  round  the  tail  of  one  of  these 
whales. 

"  There's  a  pretty  fellow,  now,"  he  banteringly  laughed, 
standing  in  the  ship's  bows,  "  there's  a  jackal  for  ye !  I  well 
know  that  these  Crappoes  of  Frenchmen  are  but  poor  devils  in 
the  fishery ;  sometimes  lowering  their  boats  for  breakers,  mis- 
taking them  for  Sperm  Whale  spouts  ;  yes,  and  sometimes  sail- 
ing from  their  port  with  their  hold  full  of  boxes  of  tallow 
candles,  and  cases  of  snuffers,  foreseeing  that  all  the  oil  they 
will  get  won't  be  enough  to  dip  the  Captain's  wick  into ;  ■  aye, 
we  all  know  these  things ;  but  look  ye,  here's  a  Crappo  that  is 
content  with  our  leavings,  the  drugged  whale  there,  I  mean ; 
aye,  and  is  content  too  with  scraping  the  dry  bones  of  that 
other  precious  fish  he  has  there.  Poor  devil !  I  say,  pass  round 
a  hat,  some  one,  and  let's  make  him  a  present  of  a  little  oil  for 
dear  charity's  sake.  For  what  oil  he'll  get  from  that  drugged 
whale  there,  wouldn't  be  fit  to  burn  in  a  jail ;  no,  not  in  a  con- 
demned cell.  And  as  for  the  other  whale,  why,  I'll  agree  to 
get  more  oil  by  chopping  up  and  trying  out  these  three  masts 
of  ours,  than  he'll  get  from  that  bundle  of  bones  ;  though,  now 
that  I  think  of  it,  it  may  contain  something  worth  a  good  deal 
more  than  oil ;  yes,  ambergris.  I  wonder  now  if  our  old  man 
has  thought  of  that.  It's  worth  trying.  Yes,  I'm  in  for  it ;'' 
and  so  saying  he  started  for  the  quarter-deck. 

By  this  time  the  faint  air  had  become  a  complete  calm  ;  so 
that  whether  or  no,  the  Pequod  was  now  fairly  entrapped  in  the 
smell,  with  no  hope  of  escaping  except  by  its  breezing  up 
again.  Issuing  from  the  cabin,  Stubb  now  called  his  boat's 
crew,  and  pulled  off  for  the  stranger.  Drawing  across  her  bow, 
he  perceived  that  in  accordance  with  the  fanciful  French  taste, 
the  upper  part  of  her  stem-piece  was  carved  in  the  likeness  of  a 
huge  drooping  stalk,  was  painted  green,  and  for  thorns  had 
copper  spikes  projecting  from  it  here  and  there  ;  the  whole 
.terminating  in  a  symmetrical  folded  bulb  of  a  bright  red  color* 


450  THE    ROSE-BUD. 


Upon  her  head  boards,  in  large  gilt  letters,  he  read  "  Bouton 
de  Rose," — Rose-button,  or  Rose-bud ;  and  this  was  the  romantic 
name  of  this  aromatic  ship. 

Though  Stubb  did  not  understand  the  Bouton  part  of  the 
inscription,  yet  the  word  rose,  and  the  bulbous  figure-head  put 
together,  sufficiently  explained  the  whole  to  him. 

"  A  wooden  rose-bud,  eh  ?"  he  cried  with  his  hand  to  his  nose, 
"  that  will  do  very  well ;  but  how  like  all  creation  it  smells !" 

Now  in  order  to  hold  direct  communication  with  the 
people  on  deck,  he  had  to  pull  round  the  bows  to  the  starboard 
side,  and  thus  come  close  to  the  blasted  whale ;  and  so  talk 
over  it. 

Arrived  then  at  this  spot,  with  one  hand  still  to  his  nose,  he 
bawled — "  Bouton-de-Rose,  ahoy  !  are  there  any  of  you  Bou- 
ton-de-Roses  that  speak  English  ?" 

"Yes,"  rejoined  a  Guernsey-man  from  the  bulwarks,  who 
turned  out  to  be  the  chief-mate. 

"Well,  then,  my  Bouton-de-Rose-bud,  have  you  seen  the 
White  Whale  ?" 

"  What  whale  r 

"  The  White  Whale — a  Sperm  Whale — Moby  Dick,  have  ye 
seen  him  ?" 

"  Never  heard  of  such  a  whale.  Cachalot  Blanche !  White 
Whale — no." 

"  Very  good,  then ;  good  bye  now,  and  I'll  call  again  in  a 
minute." 

Then  rapidly  pulling  back  towards  the  Pequod,  and  seeing 
Ahab  leaning  over  the  quarter-deck  rail  awaiting  his  report,  he 
moulded  his  two  hands  into  a  trumpet  and  shouted — "  No,  Sir ! 
No !"  Upon  which  Ahab  retired,  and  Stubb  returned  to  the 
Frenchman. 

He  now  perceived  that  the  Guernsey-man,  who  had  just  got 
into  the  chains,  and  was  using  a  cutting-spade,  had  slung  his 
nose  in  a  sort  of  ba^. 


THE    ROSE-BUD.  451 

"What's  the  matter  with  your  nose,  there?"  said  Stubb. 
"Broke  it?" 

"  I  wish  it  was  broken,  or  that  I  didn't  have  any  nose  at  all !" 
answered  the  Guernsey-man,  who  did  not  seem  to  relish  the  job 
he  was  at  very  much.     "But  what  are  you  holding  yours  for?" 

"  Oh,  nothing !  It's  a  wax  nose  ;  I  have  to  hold  it  on.  Fine 
day,  aint  it  ?  Air  rather  gardenny,  I  should  say  ;  throw  us  a 
bunch  of  posies,  will  ye,  Bouton-de-Rose  ?" 

"  What  in  the  devil's  name  do  you  want  here  ?"  roared  the 
Guernsey-man,  flying  into  a  sudden  passion. 

"  Oh  !  keep  cool — cool  ?  yes,  that's  the  word ;  why  don't  you 
pack  those  whales  in  ice  while  you're  working  at  'em  ?  But 
joking  aside,  though ;  do  you  know,  Rose-bud,  that  it's  all  non- 
sense trying  to  get  any  oil  out  of  such  whales  ?  As  for  that 
dried  up  one,  there,  he  hasn't  a  gill  in  his  whole  carcase." 

"I  know  that  well  enough;  but,  d'ye  see,  the  Captain 
here  won't  believe  it ;  this  is  his  first  voyage ;  he  was  a  Cologne 
manufacturer  before.  But  come  aboard,  and  mayhap  he'll  be- 
lieve you,  if  he  won't  me ;  and  so  I'll  get  out  of  this  dirty 
scrape." 

"  Anything  to  oblige  ye,  my  sweet  and  pleasant  fellow,"  re- 
joined Stubb,  and  with  that  he  soon  mounted  to  the  deck. 
There  a  queer  scene  presented  itself.  The  sailors,  in  tasselled 
caps  of  red  worsted,  were  getting  the  heavy  tackles  in  readiness 
for  the  whales.  But  they  worked  rather  slow  and  talked  very 
fast,  and  seemed  in  anything  but  a  good  humor.  All  their 
noses  upwardly  projected  from  their  faces  like  so  many  jib- 
booms.  Now  and  then  pairs  of  them  would  drop  their  work, 
and  run  up  to  the  mast-head  to  get  some  fresh  air.  Some  think- 
ing they  would  catch  the  plague,  dipped  oakum  in  coal-tar,  and 
at  intervals  held  it  to  their  nostrils.  Others  having  broken  the 
stems  of  their  pipes  almost  short  off  at  the  bowl,  were  vigorously 
puffing  tobacco-smoke,  so  that  it  constantly  filled  their  olfacto- 1 
ries. 


452  THE    ROSE-BUD. 

Stubb  was  struck  by  a  shower  of  outcries  and  anathemas  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Captain's  round-house  abaft;  and  looking  in 
that  direction  saw  a  fiery  face  thrust  from  behind  the  door,  which 
was  held  ajar  from  within.  This  was  the  tormented  surgeon, 
who,  after  in  vain  remonstrating  against  the  proceedings  of  the 
day,  had  betaken  himself  to  the  Captain's  round-house  {cabinet 
he  called  it)  to  avoid  the  pest ;  but  still,  could  not  help  yelling 
out  his  entreaties  and  indignations  at  times. 

Marking  all  this,  Stubb  argued  well  for  his  scheme,  and  turn- 
ing to  the  Guernsey-man  had  a  little  chat  with  him,  during 
which  the  stranger  mate  expressed  his  detestation  of  his  Cap- 
tain as  a  conceited  ignoramus,  who  had  brought  them  all  into  so 
unsavory  and  unprofitable  a  pickle.  Sounding  him  carefully, 
Stubb  further  perceived  that  the  Guernsey-man  had  not  the 
slightest  suspicion  concerning  the  ambergris.  He  therefore  held 
his  peace  on  that  head,  but  otherwise  was  quite  frank  and  con- 
fidential with  him,  so  that  the  two  quickly  concocted  a  little 
plan  for  both  circumventing  and  satirizing  the  Captain,  without 
his  at  all  dreaming  of  distrusting  their  sincerity.  According  to 
this  little  plan  of  theirs,  the  Guernsey-man,  under  cover  of  an 
interpreter's  office,  was  to  tell  the  Captain  what  he  pleased,  but 
as  coming  from  Stubb ;  and  as  for  Stubb,  he  was  to  utter  any 
nonsense  that  should  come  uppermost  in  him  during  the  inter- 
view. 

By  this  time  their  destined  victim  appeared  from  his  cabin. 
He  was  a  small  and  dark,  but  rather  delicate  looking  man  for  a 
sea-captain,  with  large  whiskers  and  moustache,  however ;  and 
wore  a  red  cotton  velvet  vest  with  watch-seals  at  his  side.  To 
this  gentleman,  Stubb  was  now  politely  introduced  by  the 
Guernsey-man,  who  at  once  ostentatiously  put  on  the  aspect  of 
interpreting  between  them. 

"  What  shall  I  say  to  him  first  ?"  said  he. 

"  Why,"  said  Stubb,  eyeing  the  velvet  vest  and  the  watch 
and  seals,  "  you  may  as  well  begin  by  telling  him  that  he  looks 


THE    ROSE-BUD.  453 

. * 

a  sort  of  babyish  to  me,  though  I  don't  pretend  to  be  a 
judge." 

"  He  says,  Monsieur,"  said  the  Guernsey-man,  in  French, 
turning  to  his  captain,  "  that  only  yesterday  his  ship  spoke 
a  vessel,  whose  captain  and  chief-mate,  with  six  sailors,  had  all 
died  of  a  fever  caught  from  a  blasted  whale  they  bad  brought 
alongside."  i 

Upon  this  the  captain  started,  and  eagerly  desired  to  know 
more. 

"  What  now  ?"  said  the  Guernsey-man  to  Stubb. 

"  Why,  since  he  takes  it  so  easy,  tell  him  that  now  I  have 
eyed  him  carefully,  I'm  quite  certain  that  he's  no  more  fit 
to  command  a  whale-ship  than  a  St.  Jago  monkey.  In  fact,  tell 
him  from  me  he's  a  baboon." 

"  He  vows  and  declares,  Monsieur,  that  the  other  whale,  the 
dried  one,  is  far  more  deadly  than  the  blasted  one ;  in  fine, 
Monsieur,  he  conjures  us,  as  we  value  our  lives,  to  cut  loose  from 
these  fish." 

Instantly  the  captain  ran  forward,  and  in  a  loud  voice  com- 
manded his  crew  to  desist  from  hoisting  the  cutting-tackles,  and 
at  once  cast  loose  the  cables  and  chains  confining  the  whales  to 
the  ship. 

"  What  now  ?"  said  the  Guernsey-man,  when  the  captain  had 
returned  to  them. 

"  Why,  let  me  see  ;  yes,  you  may  as  well  tell  him  now  that 
— that — in  fact,  tell  him  I've  diddled  him,  and  (aside  to  him- 
self) perhaps  somebody  else." 

"  He  says,  Monsieur,  that  he's  very  happy  to  have  been 
of  any  service  to  us." 

Hearing  this,  the  captain  vowed  that  they  were  the  grateful 
parties  (meaning  himself  and  mate)  and  concluded  by  inviting 
Stubb  down  into  his  cabin  to  drink  a  bottle  of  Bordeaux. 

"  He  wants  you  to  take  a  glass  of  wine  with  him,"  said  the 
interpreter. 


454  THE    ROSE-BUD. 


"  Thank  him  heartily  ;  but  tell  him  it's  against  my  prin- 
ciples to  drink  with  the  man  I've  diddled.  In  fact,  tell  him 
I  must  go." 

"  He  says,  Monsieur,  that  his  principles  won't  admit  of  his 
drinking ;  but  that  if  Monsieur  wants  to  live  another  day  to 
drink,  then  Monsieur  had  best  drop  all  four  boats,  and  pull  the 
ship  away  from  these  whales,  for  it's  so  calm  they  won't 
drift." 

By  this  time  Stubb  was  over  the  side,  and  getting  into 
his  boat,  hailed  the  Guernsey-man  to  this  effect, — that  having  a 
long  tow-line  in  his  boat,  he  would  do  what  he  could  to  help 
them,  by  pulling  out  the  lighter  whale  of  the  two  from  the 
ship's  side.  While  the  Frenchman's  boats,  then,  were  engaged 
in  towing  the  ship  one  way,  Stubb  benevolently  towed  away  at 
his  whale  the  other  way,  ostentatiously  slacking  out  a  most 
unusually  long  tow-line. 

Presently  a  breeze  sprang  up ;  Stubb  feigned  to  cast  off  from 
the  whale ;  hoisting  his  boats,  the  Frenchman  soon  increased 
his  distance,  while  the  Pequod  slid  in  between  him  and  Stubb's 
whale.  Whereupon  Stubb  quickly  pulled  to  the  floating  body, 
and  hailing  the  Pequod  to  give  notice  of  his  intentions,  at  once 
proceeded  to  reap  the  fruit  of  his  unrighteous  cunning.  Seizing 
his  sharp  boat-spade,  he  commenced  an  excavation  in  the  body, 
a  little  behind  the  side  fin.  You  would  almost  have  thought  he 
was  digging  a  cellar  there  in  the  sea ;  and  when  at  length 
his  spade  struck  against  the  gaunt  ribs,  it  was  like  turning 
up  old  Roman  tiles  and  pottery  buried  in  fat  English  loam. 
His  boat's  crew  were  all  in  high  excitement,  eagerly  helping 
their  chief,  and  looking  as  anxious  as  gold-hunters. 

And  all  the  time  numberless  fowls  were  diving,  and  ducking, 
and  screaming,  and  yelling,  and  fighting  around  them.  Stubb 
was  beginning  to  look  disappointed,  especially  as  the  horrible 
nosegay  increased,  when  suddenly  from  out  the  very  heart  of 
this  plague,  there  stole  a  faint  stream  of  perfume,  which  flowed 


AMBERGRIS.  455 


through  the  tide  of  bad  smells  without  being  absorbed  by  it,  as 
one  river  will  flow  into  and  then  along  with  another,  withont 
at  all  blending  with  it  for  a  time. 

"  I  have  it,  I  have  it,"  cried  Stubb,  with  delight,  striking 
something  in  the  subterranean  regions,  "  a  purse  !  a  purse  !" 

Dropping  his  spade,  he  thrust  both  hands  in,  and  drew  out 
handfuls  of  something  that  looked  like  ripe  Windsor  soap, 
or  rich  mottled  old  cheese ;  very  unctuous  and  savory  withal. 
You  might  easily  dent  it  with  your  thumb;  it  is  of  a  hue 
between  yellow  and  ash  color.  And  this,  good  friends,  is  amber- 
gris, worth  a  gold  guinea  an  ounce  to  any  druggist.  Some  six 
handfuls  were  obtained  ;  but  more  was  unavoidably  lost  in  the 
sea,  and  still  more,  perhaps,  might  have  been  secured  were  it  not 
for  impatient  Ahab's  loud  command  to  Stubb  to  desist,  and  come 
on  board,  else  the  ship  would  bid  them  good  bye. 


CHAPTER  XCII. 

AMBERGRIS. 

Now  this  ambergris  is  a  very  curious  substance,  and  so 
important  as  an  article  of  commerce,  that  in  1791  a  certain 
Nantucket-born  Captain  Coffin  was  examined  at  the  bar  of  the 
English  House  of  Commons  on  that  subject.  For  at  that  time, 
and  indeed  until  a  comparatively  late  day,  the  precise  origin  of 
ambergris  remained,  like  amber  itself,  a  problem  to  the  learned. 
Though  the  word  ambergris  is  but  the  French  compound  for 
grey  amber,  yet  the  two  substances  are  quite  distinct.  For 
amber,  though  at  times  found  on  the  sea-coast,  is  also  dug  up  in 
some  far  inland  soils,  whereas  ambergris  is  never  found  except 
upon  the  sea.  Besides,  amber  is  a  hard,  transparent,  brittle, 
odorless  substance,  used  for  mouth-pieces  to  pipes,  for  beads 
and  ornaments ;   but  ambergris  is  soft,  waxy,  and  so  highly  fra- 


456      •  AMBERGRIS. 


grant  and  spicy,  that  it  is  largely  used  in  perfumery,  in  pastiles, 
precious  candles,  hair-powders,  and  pomatum.  The  Turks  use  it 
in  cooking,  and  also  cany  it  to  Mecca,  for  the  same  purpose  that 
frankincense  is  carried  to  St.  Peter's  in  Rome.  Some  wine  mer- 
chants drop  a  few  grains  into  claret,  to  flavor  it. 

Who  would  think,  then,  that  such  fine  ladies  and  gentlemen 
should  regale  themselves  with  an  essence  found  in  the  inglorious 
bowels  of  a  sick  whale  !  Yet  so  it  is.  By  some,  ambergris 
is  supposed  to  be  the  cause,  and  by  others  the  effect,  of  the 
dyspepsia  in  the  whale.  How  to  cure  such  a  dyspepsia  it  were 
hard  to  say,  unless  by  administering  three  or  four  boat  loads  of 
Brandreth's  pills,  and  then  running  out  of  harm's  way,  as  labor- 
ers do  in  blasting  rocks. 

I  have  forgotten  to  say  that  there  were  found  in  this  amber- 
gris, certain  hard,  round,  bony  plates,  which  at  first  Stubb 
thought  might  be  sailors'  trousers  buttons ;  but  it  afterwards 
turned  out  that  they  were  nothing  more  than  pieces  of  small 
squid  bones  embalmed  in  that  manner. 

Now  that  the  incorruption  of  this  most  fragrant  ambergris 
■should  be  found  in  the  heart  of  such  decay ;  is  this  nothing? 
Bethink  thee  of  that  saying  of  St.  Paul  in  Corinthians,  about 
corruption  and  incorruption  ;  how  that  we  are  sown  in  dishonor, 
but  raised  in  glory.  And  likewise  call  to  mind  that  saying 
of  Paracelsus  about  what  it  is  that  maketh  the  best  musk.  Also 
forget  not  the  strange  fact  that  of  all  things  of  ill-savor,  Cologne- 
water,  in  its  rudimental  manufacturing  stages,  is  the  worst. 

I  should  like  to  conclude  the  chapter  with  the  above  appeal, 
but  cannot,  owing  to  my  anxiety  to  repel  a  charge  often  made 
against  whalemen,  and  which,  in  the  estimation  of  some  already 
biased  minds,  might  be  considered  as  indirectly  substantiated  by 
what  has  been  said  of  the  Frenchman's  two  whales.  Elsewhere 
in  this  volume  the  slanderous  aspersion  has  been  disproved,  that 
the  vocation  of  whaling  is  throughout  a  slatternly,  untidy 
business.     But  there  is  another  thing  to  rebut.     They  hint  that 


AMBERGRIS.  457 


all  whales  always  smell  bad.  Now  how  did  this  odious  stigma 
originate  ? 

I  opine,  that  it  is  plainly  traceable  to  the  first  arrival  of  the 
Greenland  whaling  ships  in  London,  more  than  two  centuries 
ago.  Because  those  whalemen  did  not  then,  and  do  not  now, 
try  out  their  oil  at  sea  as  the  Southern  ships  have  always  done  ; 
but  cutting  up  the  fresh  blubber  in  small  bits,  thrust  it  through 
the  bung  holes  of  large  casks,  and  carry  it  home  in  that  man- 
ner ;  the  shortness  of  the  season  in  those  Icy  Seas,  and  the  sud- 
den «and  violent  storms  to  which  they  are  exposed,  forbidding 
any  other  course.  The  consequence  is,  that  upon  breaking  into 
the  hold,  and  unloading  one  of  these  whale  cemeteries,  in  the 
Greenland  dock,  a  savor  is  given  forth  somewhat  similar  to  that 
arising  from  excavating  an  old  city  grave-yard,  for  the  founda- 
tions of  a  Lying-in  Hospital. 

I  partly  surmise  also,  that  this  wicked  charge  against  whalers 
may  be  likewise  imputed  to  the  existence  on  the  coast  of  Green- 
land, in  former  times,  of  a  Dutch  village  called  Schmerenburgh 
or  Smeerenberg,  which  latter  name  is  the  one  used  by  the 
learned  Fogo  Von  Slack,  in  his  great  work  on  Smells,  a  text- 
book on  that  subject.  As  its  name  imports  (smeer,  fat ;  berg, 
to  put  up  ),  this  village  was  founded  in  order  to  afford  a  place 
for  the  blubber  of  the  Dutch  whale  fleet  to  be  tried  out,  with- 
out being  taken  home  to  Holland  for  that  purpose.'  It  was  a 
collection  of  furnaces,  fat-kettles,  and  oil  sheds  ;  and  when  the 
works  were  in  full  operation  certainly  gave  forth  no  very 
pleasant  savor.  But  all  this  is  quite  different  with  a  South  Sea 
Sperm  Whaler  ;  which  in  a  voyage  of  four  years  perhaps,  after 
completely  filling  her  hold  with  oil,  does  not,  perhaps,  consume 
fifty  days  in  the  business  of  boiling  out ;  and  in  the  state  that 
it  is  casked,  the  oil  is  nearly  scentless.  The  truth  is,  that  living 
or  dead,  if  but  decently  treated,  whales  as  a  species  are  by  no 
means  creatures  of  ill  odor ;  nor  can  whalemen  be  recognised, 
as  the  people  of  the  middle  ages  affected  to  detect  a  Jew  in  the 

20 


458  THE    CASTAWAY. 

company,  by  the  nose.  Nor  indeed  can  the  whale  possibly  be 
otherwise  than  fragrant,  when,  as  a  general  thing,  he  enjoys  such 
high  health ;  taking  abundance  of  exercise ;  always  out  of 
doors ;  though,  it  is  true,  seldom  in  the  open  air.  I  say,  that 
the  motion  of  a  Sperm  Whale's  flukes  above  water  dispenses  a 
perfume,  as  when  a  musk-scented  lady  rustles  her  dress  in  a 
warm  parlor.  What  then  shall  I  liken  the  Sperm  Whale  to 
for  fragrance,  considering  his  magnitude  ?  Must  it  not  be  to 
that  famous  elephant,  with  jewelled  tusks,  and  redolent  with 
myrrh,  which  was  led  out  of  an  Indian  town  to  do  hont>r  to 
Alexander  the  Great  ? 


CHAPTER  XCin. 

THE    CASTAWAY. 

It  was  but  some  few  days  after  encountering  the  Frenchman, 
that  a  most  significant  event  befell  the  most  insignificant  of  the 
Pequod's  crew ;  an  event  most  lamentable ;  and  which  ended  in 
providing  the  sometimes  madly  merry  and  predestinated  craft 
with  a  living  and  ever  accompanying  prophecy  of  whatever 
shattered  sequel  might  prove  her  own. 

Now,  in  the  whale  ship,  it  is  not  eveiy  one  that  goes  in  the 
boats.  Some  few  hands  are  reserved  called  ship-keepers,  whose 
province  it  is  to  work  the  vessel  while  the  boats  are  pursuing 
the  whale.  As  a  general  thing,  these  ship-keepers  are  as  hardy 
fellows  as  the  men  comprising  the  boats'  crews.  But  if  there 
happen  to  be  an  unduly  slender,  clumsy,  or  timorous  wight  in 
the  ship,  that  wight  is  certain  to  be  made  a  ship-keeper.  It 
was  so  in  the  Pequod  with  the  little  negro  Pippin  by  nick-name, 
Pip  by  abbreviation.  Poor  Pip  !  ye  have  heard  of  him  before ; 
ye  must  remember  his  tambourine  on  that  dramatic  midnight, 
so  gloomy-jolly. 


THE    CASTAWAY.  459 

In  outer  aspect,  Pip  and  Dough-Boy  made  a  match,  like  a 
black  pony  and  a  white  one,  of  equal  developments,  though  of 
dissimilar  color,  driven  in  one  eccentric  span.  But  while  hapless 
Dough-Boy  was  by  nature  dull  and  torpid  in  his  intellects,  Pip, 
though  over  tender-hearted,  was  at  bottom  veiy  bright,  with 
that  pleasant,  genial,  jolly  brightness  peculiar  to  his  tribe ;  a 
tribe,  which  ever  enjoy  all  holidays  and  festivities  with  finer, 
freer  relish  than  any  other  race.  For  blacks,  the  year's  calendar 
should  show  naught  but  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  Fourth  of 
Julys  and  New  Year's  Days.  Nor  smile  so,  while  I  write  that 
this  little  black  was  brilliant,  for  even  blackness  has  its  brilliancy  ; 
behold  yon  lustrous  ebony,  panelled  in  king's  cabinets.  But 
Pip  loved  life,  and  all  life's  peaceable  securities ;  so  that  the 
panic-striking  business  in  which  he  had  somehow  unaccounta- 
bly become  entrapped,  had  most  sadly  blurred  his  brightness  ; 
though,  as  ere  long  will  be  seen,  what  was  thus  temporarily  sub- 
dued in  him,  in  the  end  was  destined  to  be  luridly  illumined  by 
strange  wild  fires,  that  fictitiously  showed  him  off  to  ten  times 
the  natural  lustre  with  which  in  his  native  Tolland  County  in 
Connecticut,  he  had  once  enlivened  many  a  fiddler's  frolic  on 
the  green ;  and  at  melodious  even-tide,  with  his  gay  ha-ha ! 
had  turned  the  round  horizon  into  one  star-belled  tambourine. 
So,  though  in  the  clear  air  of  day,  suspended  against  a  blue- 
veined  neck,  the  pure-watered  diamond  drop  wiH  healthful 
glow ;  yet,  when  the  cunning  jeweller  would  show  you  the 
diamond  in  its  most  impressive  lustre,  he  lays  it  against  a 
gloomy  ground,  and  then  lights  it  up,  not  by  the  sun,  but  by 
some  unnatural  gases.  Then  come  out  those  fiery  effulgenees, 
infernally  superb;  then  the  evil-blazing  diamond,  once  the 
divinest  symbol  of  the  crystal  skies,  looks  like  some  crown-jewel 
stolen  from  the  Bang  of  Hell.     But  let  us  to  the  story. 

It  came  to  pass,  that  in  the  ambergris  affair  Stubb's  after- 
oarsman  chanced  so  to  sprain  his  hand,  as  for  a  time  to  become 
quite  maimed ;  and,  temporarily,  Pip  was  put  into  his  place. 


4G0  THE    CASTAWAY. 

The  first  time  Stubb  lowered  with  him,  Pip  evinced  much 
nervousness ;  bul  happily,  for  that  time,  escaped  close  contact 
with  the  whale ;  and  therefore  came  off  not  altogether  dis- 
creditably ;  though  Stubb  observing  him,  took  care,  afterwards, 
to  exhort  him  to  cherish  his  courageousness  to  the  utmost,  for 
he  might  often  find  it  needful. 

Now  upon  the  second  lowering,  the  boat  paddled  upon  the 
whale ;  and  as  the  fish  received  the  darted  iron,  it  gave  its 
customary  rap,  which  happened,  in  this  instance,  to  be  right 
under  poor  Pip's  seat.  The  involuntary  consternation  of  the 
moment  caused  him  to  leap,  paddle  in  .hand,  out  of  the  boat ; 
and  in  such  a  way,  that  part  of  the  slack  whale  line  coming 
against  his  chest,  he  breasted  it  overboard  with  him,  so  as  to 
become  entangled  in  it,  when  at  last  plumping  into  the  water. 
That  instant  the  stricken  whale  started  on  a  fierce  run,  the  line 
swiftly  straightened  ;  and  presto  !  poor  Pip  came  all  foaming 
up  to  the  chocks  of  the  boat,  remorselessly  dragged  there  by 
the  line,  which  had  taken  several  turns  around  his  chest  and 
neck. 

Tashtego  stood  in  the  bows.  He  was  full  of  the  fire  of  the 
hunt.  He  hated  Pip  for  a  poltroon.  Snatching  the  boat- 
knife  from  its  sheath,  he  suspended  its  sharp  edge  over  the  line, 
and  turning  towards  Stubb,  exclaimed  interrogatively,  "  Cut  ?" 
Meantime  Pip's  blue,  choked  face  plainly  looked,  Do,  for  God's 
sake !  All  passed  in  a  flash.  In  less  than  half  a  minute,  this 
entire  thing  happened. . 

"  Damn  him,  cut !"  roared  Stubb  ;  and  so  the  whale  was 
lost  and  Pip  was  saved. 

So  soon  as  he  recovered  himself,  the  poor  little  negro  was 
assailed  by  yells  and  execrations  from  the  crew.  Tranquilly 
permitting  these  irregular  cursings  to  evaporate,  Stubb  then  in 
a  plain,  business-like,  but  still  half  humorous  manner,  cursed 
Pip  officially ;  and  that  done,  unofficially  gave  him  much 
wholesome  advice.      The  substance  was,  Never  jump  from  a 


THE    CASTAWAY.  461 

boat,  Pip,  except — but  all  the  rest  was  indefinite,  as  the 
soundest  advice  ever  is.  Now,  in  general,  Stick  to  the  boat,  is 
your  true  motto  in  whaling ;  but  cases  will  sometimes  happen 
when  Leap  from  the  boat,  is  still  better.  Moreover,  as  if 
perceiving  at  last  that  if  he  should  give  undiluted  conscientious 
advice  to  Pip,  he  would  be  leaving  him  too  wide  a  margin  to 
jump  in  for  the  future ;  Stubb  suddenly  dropped  all  advice,  and 
concluded  with  a  peremptory  command,  "Stick  to  the  boat, 
Pip,  or  by  the  Lord,  I  wont  pick  you  up  if  you  jump  ;  mind 
that.  We  can't  afford  to  lose  whales  by  the  likes  of  you ;  a 
whale  would  sell  for  thirty  times  what  you  would,  Pip,  in 
Alabama.  Bear  that  in  mind,  and  don't  jump  any  more." 
Hereby  perhaps  Stubb  indirectly  hinted,  that  though  man  loved 
his  fellow,  yet  man  is  a  money-making  animal,  which  propensity 
too  often  interferes  with  his  benevolence. 

But  we  are  all  in  the  hands  of  the  Gods ;  and  Pip  jumped 
again.  It  was  under  very  similar  circumstances  to  the  first 
performance  ;  but  this  time  he  did  not  breast  out  the  line  ;  and 
hence,  when  the  whale  started  to  run,  Pip  was  left  behind  on 
the  sea,  like  a  hurried  traveller's  trunk.  Alas !  Stubb  was  but 
too  true  to  his  word.  It  was  a  beautiful,  bounteous,  blue  day ; 
the  spangled  sea  calm  and  cool,  and  flatly  stretching  away,  all 
round,  to  the  horizon,  like  gold-beater's  skin  hammered  out  to 
the  extremest.  Bobbing  up  and  down  in  that  sea,  Pip's  ebon 
head  showed  like  a  head  of  cloves.  No  boat-knife  was  lifted 
when  he  fell  so  rapidly  astern.  Stubb's  inexorable  back  was 
turned  upon  him ;  and  the  whale  was  winged.  In  three 
minutes,  a  whole  mile  of  shoreless  ocean  was  between  Pip  and 
Stubb.  Out  from  the  centre  of  the  sea,  poor  Pip  turned  his 
crisp,  curling,  black  head  to  the  sun,  another  lonely  castaway, 
though  the  loftiest  and  the  brightest. 

Now,  in  calm  weather,  to  swim  in  the  open  ocean  is  as  easy 
to  the  practised  swimmer  as  to  ride  in  a  spring-carriage  ashore. 


462  THE    CASTAWAY. 

But  the  awful  lonesomeness  is  intolerable.  The  intense  concen- 
tration of  self  in  the  middle  of  such  a  heartless  immensity,  my 
God!  who  can  tell  it?  Mark,  how  when  sailors  in  a  dead 
calm  bathe  in  the  open  sea — mark  how  closely  they  hug  their 
ship  and  only  coast  along  her  sides. 

But  had  Stubb  really  abandoned  the  poor  little  negro  to  his 
fate  ?  No  ;  he  did  not  mean  to,  at  least.  Because  there  were 
two  boats  in  his  wake,  and  he  supposed,  no  doubt,  that  they 
would  of  course  come  up  to  Pip  very  quickly,  and  pick  him  up ; 
though,  indeed,  such  considerations  towards  oarsmen  jeopardized 
through  their  own  timidity,  is  not  always  manifested  by  the 
hunters  in  all  similar  instances ;  and  such  instances  not  unfre- 
quently  occur ;  almost  invariably  in  the  fishery,  a  coward,  so 
called,  is  marked  with  the  same  ruthless  detestation  peculiar  to 
military  navies  and  armies. 

But  it  so  happened,  that  those  boats,  without  seeing  Pip, 
suddenly  spying  whales  close  to  them  on  one  side,  turned,  and 
gave  chase  ;  and  Stubb's  boat  was  now  so  far  away,  and  he  and 
all  his  crew  so  intent  upon  his  fish,  that  Pip's  ringed  horizon 
began  to  expand  around  him  miserably.  By  the  merest  chance 
the  ship  itself  at  last  rescued  him;  but  from  that  horn-  the 
little  negro  went  about  the  deck  an  idiot ;  such,  at  least,  they 
said  he  was.  The  sea  had  jeeringly  kept  his  finite  body  up,  but 
drowned  the  infinite  of  his  soul.  Not  drowned  entirely,  though. 
Bather  carried  down  alive  to  wondrous  depths,  where  strange 
shapes  of  the  unwarped  primal  world  glided  to  and  fro  before 
his  passive  eyes ;  and  the  miser-merman,  Wisdom,  revealed  his 
hoarded  heaps ;  and  among  the  joyous,  heartless,  ever-juvenile 
eternities,  Pip  saw  the  multitudinous,  God-omnipresent,  coral 
insects,  that  out  of  the  firmament  of  waters  heaved  the  colossal 
orbs.  He  saw  God's  foot  upon  the  treadle  of  the  loom,  and 
spoke  it ;  and  therefore  his  shipmates  called  him  mad.  So 
■nan's  insanity  is  heaven's  sense  ;  and  wandering  from  all  mortal 


A    SQUEEZE    OF    THE    HAND.  463 

reason,  man  comes  at  last  to  that  celestial  thought,  which,  to 
reason,  is  absurd  and  frantic ;  and  weal  or  woe,  feels  then 
uncompromised,  indifferent  as  his  God. 

For  the  rest,  blame  not  Stubb  too  hardly.  The  thing  is 
common  in  that  fishery ;  and  in  the  sequel  of  the  narrative,  it 
will  then  be  seen  what  like  abandonment  befell  myself. 


CHAPTER  XCIV. 

A    SQUEEZE    OF   THE    HAND. 

That  whale  of  Stubb's,  so  dearly  purchased,  was  duly  brought 
to  the  Pequod's  side,  where  all  those  cutting  and  hoisting  opera- 
tions previously  detailed,  were  regularly  gone  through,  even  to 
the  baling  of  the  Heidelburgh  Tun,  or  Case. 

While  some  were  occupied  with  this  latter  duty,  others  were 
employed  in  dragging  away  the  larger  tubs,  so  soon  as  filled 
with  the  sperm ;  and  when  the  proper  time  arrived,  this  same 
sperm  was  carefully  manipulated  ere  going  to  the  try-works,  of 
which  anon. 

It  had  cooled  and  crystallized  to  such  a  degree,  that  when, 
with  several  others,  I  sat  down  before  a  large  Constantine's  bath 
of  it,  I  found  it  strangely  concreted  into  lumps,  here  and  there 
rolling  about  in  the  liquid  part.  It  was  our  business  to  squeeze 
these  lumps  back  into  fluid.  A  sweet  and  unctuous  duty !  No 
wonder  that  in  old  times  this  sperm  was  such  a  favorite  cos- 
metic. Such  a  clearer !  such  a  sweetener !  such  a  softener ! 
such  a  delicious  mollifier !  After  having  my  hands  in  it  for  only 
a  few  minutes,  my  fingers  felt  like  eels,  and  began,  as  it  were, 
to  serpentine  and  spiralize. 

As  I  sat  there  at  my  ease,  cross-legged  on  the  deck ;  after  the 
bitter  exertion  at  the  windlass  ;  under  a  blue  tranquil  sky ;  the 


464  A    SQUEEZE    OF    THE    HAND. 

ship  under  indolent  sail,  and  gliding  so  serenely  along;  as 
I  bathed  my  hands  among  those  soft,  gentle  globules  of  infil- 
trated tissues,  woven  almost  within  the  hour ;  as  they  richly 
broke  to  my  fingers,  and  discharged  all  their  opulence,  like 
fully  ripe  grapes  their  wine ;  as  I  snuffed  up  that  uncontami- 
nated  aroma, — literally  and  truly,  like  the  smell  of  spring 
violets ;  I  declare  to  you,  that  for  the  time  I  lived  as  in  a 
musky  meadow  ;  I  forgot  all  about  our  horrible  oath  ;  in  that 
inexpressible  sperm,  I  washed  my  hands  and  my  heart  of  it ;  I 
almost  began  to  credit  the  old  Paracelsan  superstition  that 
sperm  is  of  rare  virtue  in  allaying  the  heat  of  anger :  while 
bathing  in  that  bath,  I  felt  divinely  free  from  all  ill-will,  or 
petulence,  or  malice,  of  any  sort  whatsoever. 

Squeeze  !  squeeze  !  squeeze  !  all  the  morning  long  ;  I  squeezed 
that  sperm  till  I  myself  almost  melted  into  it ;  I  squeezed  that 
sperm  till  a  strange  sort  of  insanity  came  over  me  ;  and  I  found 
myself  unwittingly  squeezing  my  co-laborers'  hands  in  it,  mis- 
taking their  hands  for  the  gentle  globules.  Such  an  abounding, 
affectionate,  friendly,  loving  feeling  did  this  avocation  beget ; 
that  at  last  I  was  continually  squeezing  their  hands,  and  looking 
up  into  their  eyes  sentimentally  ;  as  much  as  to  say, — Oh !  my 
dear  fellow  beings,  why  should  we  longer  cherish  any  social 
acerbities,  or  know  the  slightest  ill-humor  or  envy !  Come ; 
let  us  squeeze  hands  all  round  ;  nay,  let  us  all  squeeze  ourselves 
into  each  other ;  let  us  squeeze  ourselves  universally  into  the 
very  milk  and  sperm  of  kindness. 

Would  that  I  could  keep  squeezing  that  sperm  for  ever  !  For 
now,  since  by  many  prolonged,  repeated  experiences,  I  have 
perceived  that  in  all  cases  man  must  eventually  lower,  or  at 
least  shift,  his  conceit  of  attainable  felicity  ;  not  placing  it  any- 
where in  the  intellect  or  the  fancy ;  but  in  the  wife,  the  heart, 
the  bed,  the  table,  the  saddle,  the  fire-side,  the  country ;  now 
that  I  have  perceived  all  this,  I  am  ready  to  squeeze  case  eter- 
nally.    In  thoughts  of  the  visions  of  the  night,  I  saw  long  rowa 


A    SQUEEZE    OF    THE    HAND.  465 

of  angels  in  paradise,  each  with  his  hands  in  a  jar  of  sper- 
maceti. 

********* 

Now,  while  discoursing  of  sperm,  it  behooves  to  speak  of 
other  things  akin  to  it,  in  the  business  of  preparing  the  sperm 
whale  for  the  try-works. 

First  comes  white-horse,  so  called,  which  is  obtained  from 
the  tapering  part  of  the  fish,  and  also  from  the  thicker  portions 
of  his  flukes.  It  is  tough  with  congealed  tendons — a  wad  of 
muscle — but  still  contains  some  oil.  After  being  severed  from 
the  whale,  the  white-horse  is  first  cut  into  portable  oblongs  ere 
going  to  the  mincer.  They  look  much  like  blocks  of  Berkshire 
marble. 

Plum-pudding  is  the  term  bestowed  upon  certain  fragmen- 
tary parts  of  the  whale's  flesh,  here  and  there  adhering  to  the 
blanket  of  blubber,  and  often  participating  to  a  considerable 
degree  in  its  unctuousness.  It  is  a  most  refreshing,  convivial, 
beautiful  object  to  behold.  As  its  name  imports,  it  is  of  an** 
exceedingly  rich,  mottled  tint,  with  a  bestreaked  snowy  and 
golden  ground,  dotted  with  spots  of  the  deepest  crimson  and 
purple.  It  is  plums  of  rubies,  in  pictures  of  citron.  Spite  of 
reason,  it  is  hard  to  keep  yourself  from  eating  it.  I  confess, 
that  once  I  stole  behind  the  foremast  to  try  it.  It  tasted  some- 
thing as  I  should  conceive  a  royal  cutlet  from  the  thigh  of 
Louis  le  Gros  might  have  tasted,  supposing  him  to  have  been 
killed  the  first  day  after  the  venison  season,  and  that  particular 
venison  season  contemporary  with  an  unusually  fine  vintage  of 
the  vineyards  of  Champagne. 

There  is  another  substance,  and  a  very  singular  one,  which 
turns  Up  in  the  course  of  this  business,  but  which  I  feel  it  to  be 
very  puzzling  adequately  to  describe.  It  is  called  slobgollion  ; 
an  appellation  original  with  the  whalemen,  and  even  so  is  the 
nature  of  the  substance.  It  is  an  ineffably  oozy,  stringy  affair, 
most  frequently  found  in  the  tubs  of  sperm,  after  a  prolonged 

20* 


466  A    SQUEEZE    OF    THE    HAND. 

squeezing,  and  subsequent  decanting.  I  hold  it  to  be  the  won- 
drously  thin,  ruptured  membranes  of  the  case,  coalescing. 

Gurry,  so  called,  is  a  term  properly  belonging  to  right  whale- 
men, but  sometimes  incidentally  used  by  the  sperm  fishermen. 
It  designates  the  dark,  glutinous  substance  which  is  scraped 
off  the  back  of  the  Greenland  or  right  whale,  and  much  of 
which  covers  the  decks  of  those  inferior  souls  who  hunt  that 
ignoble  Leviathan. 

Nippers.  Strictly  this  word  is  not  indigenous  to  the  whale's 
vocabulary.  But  as  applied  by  whalemen,  it  becomes  so.  A 
whaleman's  nipper  is  a  short  firm  strip  of  tendinous  stuff  cut 
from  the  tapering  part  of  Leviathan's  tail :  it  averages  an  inch 
in  thickness,  and  for  the  rest,  is  about  the  size  of  the  iron  part 
of  a  hoe.  Edgewise  moved  along  the  oily  deck,  it  operates  like 
a  leathern  squilgee  ;  and  by  nameless  blandishments,  as  of  magic, 
allures  along  with  it  all  impurities. 

But  to  learn  all  about  these  recondite  matters,  your  best  way 
is  at  once  to  descend  into  the  blubber-room,  and  have  a  long 
talk  with  its  inmates.  This  place  has  previously  been  mentioned 
as  the  receptacle  for  the  blanket-pieces,  when  stript  and  hoisted 
from  the  whale.  When  the  proper  time  arrives  for  cutting  up 
its  contents,  this  apartment  is  a  scene  of  terror  to  all  tyros, 
especially  by  night.  On  one  side,  lit  by  a  dull  lantern,  a  space 
has  been  left  clear  for  the  workmen.  They  generally  go  in 
pairs, — a  pike-and-gaff-man  and  a  spade-man.  The  whaling- 
pike  is  similar  to  a  frigate's  boarding-weapon  of  the  same  name. 
The  gaff  is  something  like  a  boat-hook.  With  his  gaff,  the 
gaffman  hooks  on  to  a  sheet  of  blubber,  and  strives  to  hold  it 
from  slipping,  as  the  ship  pitches  and  lurches  about.  Mean- 
while, the  spade-man  stands  on  the  sheet  itself,  perpendicularly 
chopping  it  into  the  portable  horse-pieces.  This  spade  is  sharp 
as  hone  can  make  it ;  the  spademan's  feet  are  shoeless  ;  the 
thing  he  stands  on  will  sometimes  irresistibly  slide  away  from 
him,  like  a  sledge.     If  he  cuts  off  one  of  his  own  toes,  or  one 


THE    CASSOCK.  467 

of  his  assistants',  would  you  be  very  much  astonished  ?     Toes 
are  scarce  among  veteran  blubber-room  men. 


CHAPTER  XCV. 

THE  CASSOCK.     ' 

Had  you  stepped  on  board  the  Pequod  at  a  certain  juncture 
of  this  post-mortemizing  of  the  whale ;  and  had  you  strolled 
forward  nigh  the  windlass,  pretty  sure  am  I  that  you  would 
have  scanned  with  no  small  curiosity  a  very  strange,  enig- 
matical object,  which  you  would  have  seen  there,  lying  along 
lengthwise  in  the  lee  scuppers.  Not  the  wondrous  cistern  in 
the  whale's  huge  head  ;  not  the  prodigy  of  his  unhinged  lower 
jaw ;  not  the  miracle  of  his  symmetrical  tail ;  none  of  these 
would  so  surprise  you,  as  half  a  glimpse  of  that  unaccountable 
cone, — longer  than  a  Kentuckian  is  tall,  nigh  a  foot  in  diameter 
at  the  base,  and  jet:black  as  Yojo,  the  ebony  idol  of  Queequeg. 
And  an  idol,  indeed,  it  is  ;  or,  rather,  in  old  times,  its  likeness 
was.  Such  an  idol  as  that  found  in  the  secret  groves  of  Queen 
Maachah  in  Judea  ;  and  for  worshipping  which,  king  Asa,  her 
son,  did  depose  her,  and  destroyed  the  idol,  and  burnt  it  for  an 
abomination  at  the  brook  Kedron,  as  darkly  set  forth  in  the 
15  th  chapter  of  the  first  book  of  Kings. 

Look  at  the  sailor,  called  the  mincer,  who  now  comes  along, 
and  assisted  by  two  allies,  heavily  backs  the  grandissimus,  as 
the  mariners  call  it,  and  with  bowed  shoulders,  staggers  off 
with  it  as  if  he  were  a  grenadier  carrying  a  dead  comrade  from 
the  field.  Extending  it  upon  the  forecastle  deck,  he  now  pro- 
ceeds cylindrically  to  remove  its  dark  pelt,  as  an  African  hunter 
the  pelt  of  a  boa.  This  done  he  turns  the  pelt  inside  out,  like 
a  pantaloon  leg ;  gives  it  a  good  stretching,  so  as  almost  to 


468  THE    TRY-WORKS. 


double  its  diameter ;  and  at  last  hangs  it,  well  spread,  in  the 
rigging,  to  dry.  Ere  long,  it  is  taken  down  ;  when  removing 
some  three  feet  of  it,  towards  the  pointed  extremity,  and  then 
cutting  two  slits  for  arm-holes  at  the  other  end,  he  lengthwise 
slips  himself  bodily  into  it.  The  mincer  now  stands  before  you 
invested  in  the  full  canonicals  of  his  calling.  Immemorial  to  all 
his  order,  this  investiture  alone  will  adequately  protect  him, 
while  employed  in  the  peculiar  functions  of  his  office. 

That  office  consists  in  mincing  the  horse-pieces  of  blubber 
for  the  pots ;  an  operation  which  is  conducted  at  a  curious 
wooden  horse,  planted  endwise  against  the  bulwarks,  and  with 
a  capacious  tub  beneath  it,  into  which  the  minced  pieces  drop, 
fast  as  the  sheets  from  a  rapt  orator's  desk.  Arrayed  in  decent 
black  ;  occupying  a  conspicuous  pulpit ;  intent  on  bible  leaves  ; 
what  a  candidate  for  an  archbishoprick,  what  a  lad  for  a  Pope 
were  this  mincer  !* 


CHAPTER  XCVI. 

THE    TRY-WORKS. 

Besides  her  hoisted  boats,  an  American  whaler  is  outwardly 
distinguished  by  her  try-works.  She  presents  the  curious 
anomaly  of  the  most  solid  masonry  joining  with  oak  and  hemp 
in  constituting  the  completed  ship.  It  is  as  if  from  the  open 
field  a  brick-kiln  were  transported  to  her  planks. 

The  try-works  are  planted  between  the  foremast  and  main- 
mast, the  most  roomy  part  of  the  deck.     The  timbers  beneath 

*'  Bible  leaves !  Bible  leaves !  This  is  the  invariable  cry  from  the 
mates  to  the  mincer.  It  enjoins  him  to  be  careful,  and  cut  his  work  into 
as  thin  slices  as  possible,  inasmuch  as  by  so  doing  the  business  of  boiling 
out  the  oil  is  much  accelerated,  and  its  quantity  considerably  increased, 
besides  perhaps  improving  it  in  quality. 


THE    TRY-WORKS.  469 

are  of  a  peculiar  strength,  fitted  to  sustain  the  weight  of  an 
almost  solid  mass  of  brick  and  mortar,  some  ten  feet  by  eight 
square,  and  five  in  height.  The  foundation  does  not  penetrate 
the  deck,  but  the  masonry  is  firmly  secured  to  the  surface  by 
ponderous  knees  of  iron  bracing  it  on  all  sides,  and  screwing  it 
down  to  the  timbers.  On  the  flanks  it  is  cased  with  wood,  and 
at  top  completely  covered  by  a  large,  sloping,  battened  hatch- 
way. Removing  this  hatch  we  expose  the  great  try-pots,  two 
in  number,  and  each  of  several  barrels'  capacity.  When  not  in 
use,  they  are  kept  remarkably  clean.  Sometimes  they  are 
polished  with  soapstone  and  sand,  till  they  shine  within  like 
silver  punch-bowls.  During  the  night-watches  some  cynical 
old  sailors  will  crawl  into  them  and  coil  themselves  away  there 
for  a  nap.  While  employed  in  polishing  them — one  man  in 
each  pot,  side  by  side — many  confidential  communications  are 
carried  on,  over  the  iron  lips.  It  is  a  place  also  for  profound 
mathematical  meditation.  It  was  in  the  left  hand  try-pot  of 
the  Pequod,  with  the  soapstone  diligently  circling  round  me, 
that  I  was  first  indirectly  struck  by  the  remarkable  fact,  that 
in  geometiy  all  bodies  gliding  along  the  cycloid,  my  soapstone 
for  example,  will  descend  from  any  point  in  precisely  the  same 
time. 

Removing  the  fire-board  from  the  front  of  the  try-works,  the 
bare  masonry  of  that  side  is  exposed,  penetrated  by  the  two 
iron  mouths  of  the  furnaces,  directly  underneath  the  pots. 
These  mouths  are  fitted  with  heavy  doors  of  iron.  The  intense 
heat  of  the  fire  is  prevented  from  communicating  itself  to  the 
deck,  by  means  of  a  shallow  reservoir  extending  under  the 
entire  inclosed  surface  of  the  works.  By  a  tunnel  inserted  at 
the  rear,  this  reservoir  is  kept  replenished  with  water  as  fast  as 
it  evaporates.  There  are  no  external  chimneys ;  they  open 
direct  from  the  rear  wall.  And  here  let  us  go  back  for  a 
moment. 

It  was  about  nine  o'clock  at  night  that  the  Pequod's  try-works 


470  THE    TRY-WORKS. 

were  first  started  on  this  present  voyage.  It  belonged  to  Stubb 
to  oversee  the  business. 

"All  ready  there?  Off  hatch,  then,  and  start  her.  You 
cook,  fire  the  works."  This  was  an  easy  thing,  for  the  carpen- 
ter had  been  thrusting  his  shavings  into  the  furnace  throughout 
the  passage.  Here  be  it  said  that  in  a  whaling  voyage  the  first 
fire  in  the  try-works  has  to  be  fed  for  a  time  with  wood.  After 
that  no  wood  is  used,  except  as  a  means  of  quick  ignition  to 
the  staple  fuel.  In  a  word,  after  being  tried  out,  the  crisp, 
shrivelled  blubber,  now  called  scraps  or  fritters,  still  contains 
considerable  of  its  unctuous  properties.  These  fritters  feed  the 
flames.  Like  a  plethoric  burning  martyr,  or  a  self-consuming 
misanthrope,  once  ignited,  the  whale  supplies  his  own  fuel  and 
burns  by  his  own  body.  "Would  that  he  consumed  his  own 
smoke  !  for  his  smoke  is  horrible  to  inhale,  and  inhale  it  you 
must,  and  not  only  that,  but  you  must  five  in  it  for  the  time. 
It  has  an  unspeakable,  wild,  Hindoo  odor  about  it,  such  as  may 
lurk  in  the  vicinity  of  funereal  pyres.  It  smells  like  the  left 
wing  of  the  day  of  judgment ;  it  is  an  argument  for  the  pit. 

By  midnight  the  works  were  in  full  operation.  We  were 
clear  from  the  carcase ;  sail  had  been  made ;  the  wind  was 
freshening;  the  wild  ocean  darkness  was  intense.  But  that 
darkness  was  licked  up  by  the  fierce  flames,  which  at  intervals 
forked  forth  from  the  sooty  flues,  and  illuminated  every  lofty 
rope  in  the  rigging,  as  with  the  famed  Greek  fire.  The  burning 
ship  drove  on,  as  if  remorselessly  commissioned  to  some  venge- 
ful deed.  So  the  pitch  and  sulphur-freighted  brigs  of  the  bold 
Hydriote,  Canaris,  issuing  from  their  midnight  harbors,  with 
broad  sheets  of  flame  for  sails,  bore  down  upon  the  Turkish 
frigates,  and  folded  them  in  conflagrations. 

The  hatch,  removed  from  the  top  of  the  works,  now  afforded 
a  wide  hearth  in  front  of  them.  Standing  on  this  were  the 
Tartarean  shapes  of  the  pagan  harpooneers,  always  the  whale- 
ship's  stokers.     With  huge  pronged  poles  they  pitched  hissing 


THE    TRY-WORKS.  471 

masses  of  blubber  into  the  scalding  pots,  or  stirred  up  tbe  fires 
beneath,  till  the  snaky  flames  darted,  curling,  out  of  the  doors 
to  catch  them  by  the  feet.  The  smoke  rolled  away  in  sullen 
heaps.  To  every  pitch  of  the  ship  there  was  a  pitch  of  the 
boiling  oil,  which  seemed  all  eagerness  to  leap  into  their  faces. 
Opposite  the  mouth  of  the  works,  on  the  further  side  of  the 
wide  wooden  hearth,  was  the  windlass.  This  served  for  a  sea- 
sofa.  Here  lounged  the  watch,  when  not  otherwise  employed, 
looking  into  the  red  heat  of  the  fire,  till  their  eyes  felt  scorched 
in  their  heads.  Their  tawny  features,  now  all  begrimed  with 
smoke  and  sweat,  their  matted  beards,  and  the  contrasting 
barbaric  brilliancy  of  their  teeth,  all  these  were  strangely 
revealed  in  the  capricious  emblazonings  of  the  works'.  As  they 
narrated  to  each  other  their  unholy  adventures,  their  tales  of 
terror  told  in  words  of  mirth ;  as  their  uncivilized  laughter 
forked  upwards  out  of  them,  like  the  flames  from  the  furnace  ; 
as  to  and  fro,  in  their  front,  the  harpooneers  wildly  gesticulated 
with  their  huge  pronged  forks  and  dippers  ;  as  the  wind  howled 
on,  and  the  sea  leaped,  and  the  ship  groaned  and  dived,  and 
yet  steadfastly  shot  her  red  hell  further  and  further  into  the 
blackness  of  the  sea  and  the  night,  and  scornfully  champed  the 
white  bone  in  her  mouth,  and  viciously  spat  round  her  on  all 
sides;  then  the  rushing  Pequod,  freighted  with  savages,  and 
laden  with  fire,  and  burning  a  corpse,  and  plunging  into  that 
blackness  of  darkness,  seemed  the  material  counterpart  of  her 
monomaniac  commander's  soul. 

So  seemed  it  to  me,  as  I  stood  at  her  helm,  and  for  long 
hours  silently  guided  the  way  of  this  fire-ship  on  the  sea. 
Wrapped,  for  that  interval,  in  darkness  myself,  I  but  the  better 
saw  the  redness,  the  madness,  the  ghastliness  of  others.  The 
continual  sight  of  the  fiend  shapes  before  me,  capering  half  in 
smoke  and  half  in  fire,  these  at  last  begat  kindred  visions  in  my 
soul,  so  soon  as  I  began  to  yield  to  that  unaccountable  drowsi- 
ness which  ever  would  come  over  me  at  a  midnight  helm. 


472  THE    TRY-WORKS. 

But  that  night,  in  particular,  a  strange  (and  ever  since  inex- 
plicable) thing  occurred  to  me.  Starting  from  a  brief  standing 
sleep,  I  was  horribly  conscious  of  something  fatally  wrong. 
The  jaw-bone  tiller  smote  my  side,  which  leaned  against  it ;  in 
my  ears  was  the  low  hum  of  sails,  just  beginning  to  shake  in 
the  wind  ;  I  thought  my  eyes  were  open ;  I  was  half  conscious 
of  putting  my  fingers  to  the  lids  and  mechanically  stretching 
them  still  further  apart.  But,  spite  of  all  this,  I  could  see  no 
compass  before  me  to  steer  by ;  though  it  seemed  but  a  minute 
since  I  had  been  watching  the  card,  by  the  steady  binnacle 
lamp  illuminating  it.  Nothing  seemed  before  me  but  a  jet 
gloom,  now  and  then  made  ghastly  by  flashes  of  redness. 
Uppermost  was  the  impression,  that  whatever  swift,  rushing 
thing  I  stood  on  was  not  so  much  bound  to  any  haven  ahead 
as  rushing  from  all  havens  astern.  A  stark,  bewildered  feeling, 
as  of  death,  came  over  me.  Convulsively  my  hands  grasped 
the  tiller,  but  with  the  crazy  conceit  that  the  tiller  was,  some- 
how, in  some  enchanted  way,  inverted.  My  God  !  what  is  the 
matter  with  me  ?  thought  I.  Lo  !  in  my  brief  sleep  I  had 
turned  myself  about,  and  was  fronting  the  ship's  stern,  with 
my  back  to  her  prow  and  the  compass.  In  an  instant  I  faced 
back,  just  in  time  to  prevent  the  vessel  from  flying  up  into 
the  wind,  and  very  probably  capsizing  her.  How  glad  and 
how  grateful  the  relief  from  this  unnatural  hallucination  of  the 
night,  and  the  fatal  contingency  of  being  brought  by  the  lee  ! 

Look  not  too  long  in  the  face  of  the  fire,  0  man  !  Never 
dream  with  thy  hand  on  the  helm  !  Turn  not  thy  back  to  the 
compass ;  accept  the  first  hint  of  the  hitching  tiller ;  believe 
not  the  artificial  fire,  when  its  redness  makes  all  things  look 
ghastly.  To-morrow,  in  the  natural  sun,  the  skies  will  be 
bright ;  those  who  glared  like  devils  in  the  forking  flames,  the 
morn  will  show  in  far  other,  at  least  gentler,  relief;  the  glorious, 
golden,  glad  sun,  the  only  true  lamp — all  others  but  Hal's  ! 

Nevertheless  the  sun  hides  not  Virginia's  Dismal  Swamp, 


THE    TRY-WORKS.  473 


nor  Rome's  accursed  Campagna,  nor  wide  Sahara,  nor  all  the 
millions  of  miles  of  deserts  and  of  griefs  beneath  the  moon. 
The  sun  hides  not  the  ocean,  which  is  the  dark  side  of  this 
earth,  and  winch  is  two  thirds  of  this  earth.  So,  therefore, 
that  mortal  man  who  hath  more  of  joy  than  sorrow  in  him, 
that  mortal  man  cannot  be  true — not  true,  or  undeveloped. 
With  books  the  same.  The  truest  of  all  men  was  the  Man  of 
Sorrows,  and  the  truest  of  all  books  is  Solomon's,  and  Ecclesi- 
astes  is  the  fine  hammered  steel  of  woe.  "  All  is  vanity."  All. 
This  wilful  world  hath  not  got  hold  of  unchristian  Solomon's 
wisdom  yet.  But  he  who  dodges  hospitals  and  jails,  and  walks 
fast  crossing  grave-yards,  and  would  rather  talk  of  operas  than 
hell ;  calls  Cowper,  Young,  Pascal,  Rousseau,  poor  devils  all  of 
sick  men ;  and  throughout  a  care-free  lifetime  swears  by  Rabe- 
lais as  j>assing  wise,  and  therefore  jolly ; — not  that  man  is  fitted 
to  sit  down  on  tomb-stones,  and  break  the  green  damp  mould 
with  unfa  thorn  ably  wondrous  Solomon. 

But  even  Solomon,  he  says,  "  the  man  that  wandereth  out 
of  the  way  of  understanding  shall  remain"  (i.  e.  even  while 
living)  "  in  the  congregation  of  the  dead."  Give  not  thyself 
up,  then,  to  fire,  lest  it  invert  thee,  deaden  thee ;  as  for  the 
time  it  did  me.  There  is  a  wisdom  that  is  woe ;  but  there  is 
a  woe  that  is  madness.  And  there  is  a  Catskill  eagle  in  some 
souls  that  can  alike  dive  down  into  the  blackest  gorges,  and 
soar  out  of  them  again  and  become  invisible  in  the  sunny  spaces. 
And  even  if  he  for  ever  flies  within  the  gorge,  that  gorge  is  in 
the  mountains  ;  so  that  even  in  his  lowest  swoop  the  mountain 
eagle  is  still  higher  than  other  birds  upon  the  plain,  even  though 
they  soar. 


474  THE    LAMP. 


CHAPTER  XCVI1. 

THE    LAMP. 

Had  you  descended  from  the  Pequod's  try-works  to  the 
Pequod's  forecastle,  where  the  off  duty  watch  were  sleeping,  for 
one  single  moment  you  would  have  almost  thought  you  were 
standing  in  some  illuminated  shrine  of  canonized  kings  and 
counsellors.  There  they  lay  in  then*  triangular  oaken  vaults, 
each  mariner  a  chiselled  muteness ;  a  score  of  lamps  flashing 
upon  his  hooded  eyes. 

In  merchantmen,  oil  for  the  sailor  is  more  scarce  than  the 
milk  of  queens.  To  dress  in  the  dark,  and  eat  in  the  dark,  and 
stumble  in  darkness  to  his  pallet,  this  is  his  usual  lot.  But  the 
whaleman,  as  he  seeks  the  food  of  light,  so  he  lives  in  light. 
He  makes  his  berth  an  Aladdin's  lamp,  and  lays  him  down  in 
it;  so  that  in  the  pitchiest  night  the  ship's  black  hull  still 
houses  an  illumination. 

See  with  what  entire  freedom  the  whaleman  takes  his  hand- 
ful of  lamps — often  but  old  bottles  and  vials,  though — to  the 
copper  cooler  at  the  try-works,  and  replenishes  them  there,  as 
mugs  of  ale  at  a  vat.  He  burns,  too,  the  purest  of  oil,  in  its 
unmanufactured,  and,  therefore,  unvitiated  state  ;  a  fluid  un- 
known to  solar,  lunar,  or  astral  contrivances  ashore.  It  is 
sweet  as  early  grass  butter  in  April.  He  goes  and  hunts  for 
his  oil,  so  as  to  be  sure  of  its  freshness  and  genuineness,  even 
as  the  traveller  on  the  prairie  hunts  up  his  own  supper  of  game. 


STOWING    DOWN    AND    CLEARING    UP.     475 


CHAPTER  XCVm. 

STOWING   DOWN   AND    CLEARING   UP. 

Already  lias  it  been  related  how  the  great  leviathan  is  afar 
off  descried  from  the  mast-head ;  how  he  is  chased  over  the 
watery  moors,  and  slaughtered  in  the  valleys  of  the  deep  ;  how 
he  is  then  towed  alongside  and  beheaded ;  and  how  (on  the 
principle  which  entitled  the  headsman  of  old  to  the  garments 
in  which  the  beheaded  was  killed)  his  great  padded  surtout 
becomes  the  property  of  his  executioner ;  how,  in  due  time,  he 
is  condemned  to  the  pots,  and,  like  Shadracb,  Meshach,  and 
Abednego,  his  spermaceti,  oil,  and  bone  pass  unscathed  through 
the  fire  ; — but  now  it  remains  to  conclude  the  last  chapter  of 
this  part  of  the  description  by  rehearsing — singing,  if  I  may — 
the  romantic  proceeding  of  decanting  off  his  oil  into  the  casks 
and  striking  them  down  into  the  hold,  where  once  again  levia- 
than returns  to  his  native  profundities,  sliding  along  beneath 
the  surface  as  before  ;  but,  alas  !  never  more  to  rise  and  blow. 

While  still  warm,  the  oil,  like  hot  punch,  is  received  into  the 
six-barrel  casks ;  and  while,  perhaps,  the  ship  is  pitching  and 
rolling  this  way  and  that  in  the  midnight  sea,  the  enormous 
casks  are  slewed  round  and  headed  over,  end  for  end,  and  some- 
times perilously  scoot  across  the  slippery  deck,  like  so  many 
land  slides,  till  at  last  man-handled  and  stayed  in  their  course ; 
and  all  round  the  hoops,  rap,  rap,  go  as  many  hammers  as  can 
play  upon  them,  for  now,  ex  officio,  eveiy  sailor  is  a  cooper. 

At  length,  when  the  last  pint  is  casked,  and  all  is  cool,  then 
the  great  hatchways  are  unsealed,  the  bowels  of  the  ship  are 
thrown  open,  and  down  go  the  casks  to  their  final  rest  in  the 
sea.  This  done,  the  hatches  are  replaced,  and  hermetically 
closed,  like  a  closet  walled  up. 


476    STOWING    DOWN    AND    CLEARING    UP. 

In  the  sperm  fishery,  this  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able incidents  in  all  the  business  of  whaling.  One  day  the 
planks  stream  with  freshets  of  blood  and  oil ;  on  the  sacred 
quarter-deck  enormous  masses  of  the  whale's  head  are  profanely 
piled ;  great  rusty  casks  lie  about,  as  in  a  brewery  yard ;  the  smoke 
from  the  try-works  has  besooted  all  the  bulwarks  ;  the  mariners 
go  about  suffused  with  unctuousness ;  the  entire  ship  seems 
great  leviathan  himself;  while  on  all  hands  the  din  is  deafening. 

But  a  day  or  two  after,  you  look  about  you,  and  prick  your 
ears  in  this  self-same  ship ;  and  were  it  not  for  the  tell-tale  boats 
and  try-works,  you  would  all  but  swear  you  trod  some  silent 
merchant  vessel,  with  a  most  scrupulously  neat  commander. 
The  unmanufactured  sperm  oil  possesses  a  singularly  cleansing 
virtue.  This  is  the  reason  why  the  decks  never  look  so  white 
as  just  after  what  they  call  an  affair  of  oil.  Besides,  from  the 
ashes  of  the  burned  scraps  of  the  whale,  a  potent  ley  is  readily 
made ;  and  whenever  any  adhesiveness  from  the  back  of  the 
whale  remains  clinging  to  the  side,  that  ley  quickly  exterminates 
it.  Hands  go  diligently  along  the  bulwarks,  and  with  buckets 
of  water  and  rags  restore  them  to  their  full  tidiness.  The  soot 
is  brushed  from  the  lower  rigging.  All  the  numerous  imple- 
ments which  have  been  in  use  are  likewise  faithfully  cleansed 
and  put  away.  The  great  hatch  is  scrubbed  and  placed  upon 
the  try-works,  completely  hiding  the  pots ;  every  cask  is  out  of 
sight ;  all  tackles  are  coiled  in  unseen  nooks  ;  and  when  by  the 
combined  and  simultaneous  industry  of  almost  the  entire  ship's 
company,  the  whole  of  this  conscientious  duty  is  at  last  con- 
cluded, then  the  crew  themselves  proceed  to  their  own  ablu- 
tions ;  shift  themselves  from  top  to  toe  ;  and  finally  issue  to  the 
immaculate  deck,  fresh  and  all  aglow,  as  bridegrooms  new- 
leaped  from  out  the  daintiest  Holland. 

Now,  with  elated  step,  they  pace  the  planks  in  twos  and 
threes,  and  humorousl}r  discourse  of  parlors,  sofas,  carpets,  and 
fine  cambrics ;  propose  to  mat  the  deck  ;  think  of  having  hang- 


STOWING    DOWN    AND    CLEARING    UP.    477 

ings  to  the  top  ;  object  not  to  taking  tea  by  moonlight  on  the 
piazza  of  the  forecastle.  To  hint  to  such  musked  mariners  of 
oil,  and  bone,  and  blubber,  were  little  short  of  audacity.  They 
know  not  the  thing  you  distantly  allude  to.  Away,  and  bring 
us  napkins  ! 

But  mark  :  aloft  there,  at  the  three  mast  heads,  stand  three 
men  intent  on  spying  out  more  whales,  which,  if  caught,  infalli- 
bly will  again  soil  the  old  oaken  furniture,  and  drop  at  least  one 
small  grease-spot  somewhere.  Yes ;  and  many  is  the  time, 
when,  after  the  severest  uninterrupted  labors,  which  know  no 
night  ;*  continuing  straight  through  for  ninety-six  hours  ;  when 
from  the  boat,  where  they  have  swelled  their  wrists  with  all  day 
rowing  on  the  Line, — they  only  step  to  the  deck  to  carry  vast  chains, 
and  heave  the  heavy  windlass,  and  cut  and  slash,  yea,  and  in 
their  very  sweatings  to  be  smoked  and  burned  anew  by  the  com- 
bined fires  of  the  equatorial  sun  and  the  equatorial  try-works  ; 
when,  on  the  heel  of  all  this,  they  have  finally  bestirred  themselves 
to  cleanse  the  ship,  and  make  a  spotless  dairy  room  of  it ;  many 
is  the  time  the  poor  fellows,  just  buttoning  the  necks  of  their 
clean  frocks,  are  startled  by  the  cry  of  "  There  she  blows  !"  and 
away  they  fly  to  fight  another  whale,  and  go  through  the  whole 
weary  thing  again.  Oh  !  my  friends,  but  this  is  man-killing  ! 
Yet  this  is  life.  For  hardly  have  we  mortals  by  long  toilings 
extracted  from  this  world's  vast  bulk  its  small  but  valuable 
sperm  ;  and  then,  with  weary  patience,  cleansed  ourselves  from 
its  defilements,  and  learned  to  live  here  in  clean  tabernacles  of 
the  soul ;  hardly  is  this  done,  when — There  she  blows  ! — the 
ghost  is  spouted  up,  and  away  we  sail  to  fight  some  other 
world,  and  go  through  young  life's  old  routine  again. 

Oh  !  the  metempsychosis  !  Oh  !  Pythagoras,  that  in  bright 
Greece,  two  thousand  years  ago,  did  die,  so  good,  so  wise,  so 
mild  ;  I  sailed  with  thee  along  the  Peruvian  coast  last  voyage 
— and,  foolish  as  I  am,  taught  thee,  a  green  simple  boy,  how  to 
Bplice  a  rope ! 


478**  THE    DOUBLOON. 


CHAPTER  XCIX. 

THE    DOUBLOON. 

Ere  now  it  has  been  related  how  Ahab  was  wont  to  pace  his 
quarter-deck,  taking  regular  turns  at  either  limit,  the  binnacle 
and  mainmast ;  but  in  the  multiplicity  of  other  things  requiring 
narration  it  has  not  been  added  how  that  sometimes  in  these 
walks,  when  most  plunged  in  his  mood,  he  was  wont  to  pause 
in  turn  at  each  spot,  and  stand  there  strangely  eyeing  the  par- 
ticular object  before  him.  When  he  halted  before  the  binnacle, 
with  his  glance  fastened  on  the  pointed  needle  in  the  compass, 
that  glance  shot  like  a  javelin  with  the  pointed  intensity  of  his 
purpose  ;  and  when  resuming  his  walk  he  again  paused  before 
the  mainmast,  then,  as  the  same  riveted  glance  fastened  upon 
the  riveted  gold  coin  there,  he  still  wore  the  same  aspect  of 
nailed  firmness,  only  dashed  with  a  certain  wild  longing,  if  not 
hopefulness. 

But  one  morning,  turning  to  pass  the  doubloon,  he  seemed 
to  be  newly  attracted  by  the  strange  figures  and  inscriptions 
stamped  on  it,  as  though  now  for  the  first  time  beginning  to 
interpret  for  himself  in  some  monomaniac  way  whatever  signi- 
ficance might  lurk  in  them.  And  some  certain  significance 
lurks  in  all  things,  else  all  things  are  little  worth,  and  the  round 
world  itself  but  an  empty  cipher,  except  to  sell  by  the  .cartload, 
as  they  do  hills  about  Boston,  to  fill  up  some  morass  in  the 
Milky  Way. 

Now  this  doubloon  was  of  purest,  virgin  gold,  raked  some- 
where out  of  the  heart  of  gorgeous  'hills,  whence,  east  and  west, 
over  golden  sands,  the  head-waters  of  many  a  Pactolus  flows. 
And  though  now  nailed  amidst  all  the  rustiness  of  iron  bolts 


THE    DOUBLOON.  479 

and  the  verdigris  of  copper  spikes,  yet,  untouchable  and  imma- 
culate to  any  foulness,  it  still  preserved  its  Quito  glow.  Nor, 
though  placed  amongst  a  ruthless  crew  and  every  hour  passed 
by  ruthless  hands,  and  through  the  livelong  nights  shrouded 
with  thick  darkness  which  might  cover  any  pilfering  approach, 
nevertheless  every  sunrise  found  the  doubloon  where  the  sunset 
left  it  last.  For  it  was  set  apart  and  sanctified  to  one  awe- 
striking  end ;  and  however  wanton  in  their  sailor  ways,  one  and 
all,  the  mariners  revered  it  as  the  white  whale's  talisman. 
Sometimes  they  talked  it  over  in  the  weary  watch  by  night, 
wondering  whose  it  was  to  be  at  last,  and  whether  he  would 
ever  live  to  spend  it. 

Now  those  noble  golden  coins  of  South  America  are  as 
medals  of  the  sun  and  tropic  token-pieces.  Here  palms, 
alpacas,  and  volcanoes ;  sun's  disks  and  stars ;  ecliptics,  horns- 
of-plenty,  and  rich  banners  waving,  are  in  luxuriant  profusion 
stamped ;  so  that  the  precious  gold  seems  almost  to  derive  an 
added  preciousness  and  enhancing  glories,  by  passing  through 
those  fancy  mints,  so  Spanishly  poetic. 

It  so  chanced  that  the  doubloon  of  the  Pequod  was  a  most 
wealthy  example  of  these  things.  On  its  round  border  it  bore 
the  letters,  REPUBLICA  DEL  ECUADOR :  QUITO.  So 
this  bright  coin  came  from  a  country  planted  in  the  middle  of 
the  world,  and  beneath  the  great  equator,  and  named  after  it ; 
and  it  had  been  cast  midway  up  the  Andes,  in  the  unwaning 
clime  that  knows  no  autumn.  Zoned  by  those  letters  you  saw 
the  likeness  of  three  Andes'  summits ;  from  one  a  flame  ;  a  tower 
on  another ;  on  the  third  a  crowing  cock ;  while  arching  over 
all  was  a  segment  of  the  partitioned  zodiac,  the  signs  all  marked 
with  their  usual  cabalistics,  and  the  keystone  sun  entering  the 
equinoctial  point  at  Libra. 

Before  this  equatorial  coin,  Ahab,  not  unobserved  by  others, 
was  now  pausing. 

"There's  something  ever  egotistical  in  mountain-tops  and 


480  THE    DOUBLOON 


towers,  and  all  other  grand  and  lofty  things  ;  look  here, — three 
peaks  as  proud  as  Lucifer.  The  firm  tower,  that  is  Ahab  ;  the 
volcano,  that  is  Ahab ;  the  courageous,  the  undaunted,  and 
victorious  fowl,  that,  too,  is  Ahab ;  all  are  Ahab ;  and  this 
round  gold  is  but  the  image  of  the  rounder  globe,  Avhich,  like 
a  magician's  glass,  to  each  and  every  man  in  turn  but  mirrors 
back  his  own  mysterious  self.  Great  pains,  small  gains  for 
those  who  ask  the  world  to  solve  them  ;  it  cannot  solve  itself. 
Methinks  now  this  coined  sun  wears  a  ruddy  face ;  but  see ! 
aye,  he  enters  the  sign  of  storms,  the  equinox  !  and  but  six 
months  before  he  wheeled  out  of  a  former  equinox  at  Aries  ! 
From  storm  to  storm  !  So  be  it,  then.  Born  in  throes,  'tis  fit 
that  man  should  live  in  pains  and  die  in  pangs  !  So  be  it,  then  ! 
Here's  stout  stuff  for  woe  to  work  on.     So  be  it,  then." 

"  No  fairy  fingers  can  have  pressed  the  gold,  but  devil's  claws 
must  have  left  their  mouldings  there  since  yesterday,"  murmured 
Starbuck  to  himself,  leaning  against  the  bulwarks.  "The  oil- 
man seems  to  read  Belshazzar's  awful  writing.  I  have  never 
marked  the  coin  inspectingly.  He  goes  below ;  let  me  read. 
A  dark  valley  between  three  mighty,  heaven-abiding  peaks,  that 
almost  seem  the  Trinity,  in  some  faint  earthly  symbol.  So  in 
this  vale  of  Death,  God  girds  us  round  ;  and  over  all  our  gloom, 
the  sun  of  Righteousness  still  shines  a  beacon  and  a  hope.  If 
we  bend  down  our  eyes,  the  dark  vale  shows  her  mouldy  soil ; 
but  if  we  lift  them,  the  bright  sun  meets  our  glance  half  way, 
to  cheer.  Yet,  oh,  the  great  sun  is  no  fixture  ;  and  if,  at  mid- 
night, we  would  fain  snatch  some  sweet  solace  from  him,  we 
gaze  for  him  in  vain !  This  coin  speaks  wisely,  mildly,  truly, 
but  still  sadly  to  me.  I  will  quit  it,  lest  Truth  shake  me 
falsely." 

"  There  now's  the  old  Mogul,"  soliloquized  Stubb  by  the  try- 
works,  "  he's  been  twigging  it ;  and  there  goes  Starbuck  from  the 
same,  and  both  with  faces  which  I  should  say  might  be  some- 
where within  nine  fathoms  long.     And  all  from  looking  at  a  piece 


THE    DOUBLOON.  481 

of  gold,  which  did  I  have  it  now  on  Negro  Hill  or  in  Corlaer's 
Hook,  I'd  v  ot  look  at  it  very  long  ere  spending  it.  Humph !  in  my 
poor,  insigniticant  opinion,  I  regard  this  as  queer.  I  have  seen 
doubloons  before  now  in  my  voyagings  ;  your  doubloons  of  old 
Spain,  your  doubloons  of  Peru,  your  doubloons  of  Chili,  your 
doubloons  of  Bolivia,  your  doubloons  of  Popayan ;  with  plenty 
of  gold  moidores  and  pistoles,  and  joes,  and  half  joes,  and  quar- 
ter joes.  What  then  should  there  be  in  this  doubloon  of  the 
Equator  that  is  so  killing  wonderful  ?  By  Golconda !  let  me 
read  it  once.  Halloa  !  here's  signs  and  wonders  truly  !  That, 
now,  is  what  old  Bowditch  in  his  Epitome  calls  the  zodiac,  and 
what  my  almanack  below  calls  ditto.  I'll  get  the  almanack 
and  as  I  have  heard  devils  can  be  raised  with  Daboll's  arith- 
metic, I'll  try  my  hand  at  raising  a  meaning  out  of  these  queei 
curvicues  here  with  the  Massachusetts  calendar.  Here's  the 
book.  Let's  see  now.  Signs  and  wonders ;  and  the  sun,  he's 
always  among  'em.  Hem,  hem,  hem ;  here  they  are — here 
they  go — all  alive  : — Aries,  or  the  Ram  ;  Taurus,  or  the  Bull 
and  Jimimi !  here's  Gemini  himself,  or  the  Twins.  Well ;  the 
sun  he  wheels  among  'em.  Aye,  here  on  the  coin  he's  just 
crossing  the  threshold  between  two  of  twelve  sitting-rooms  all 
in  a  ring.  Book  !  you  lie  there  ;  the  fact  is,  you  books  must 
know  your  places.  You'll  do  to  give  us  the  bare  words  and 
facts,  but  we  come  in  to  supply  the  thoughts.  That's  my  small 
experience,  so  far  as  the  Massachusetts  calendar,  and  Bowditch 's 
navigator,  and  Daboll's  arithmetic  go.  Signs  and  wonders, 
eh  ?  Pity  if  there  is  nothing  wonderful  in  signs,  and  significant 
in  wonders !  There's  a  clue  somewhere  ;  wait  a  bit ;  hist — - 
hark  !  By  Jove,  I  have  it !  Look  you,  Doubloon,  your  zodiac 
here  is  the  life  of  man  in  one  round  chapter ;  and  now  I'll  read 
it  off,  straight  out  of  the  book.  Come,  Almanack !  To  begin : 
there's  Aries,  or  the  Ram — lecherous  dog,  he  begets  us  ;  then, 
Taurus,  or  the  Bull — he  bumps  us  the  first  thing  ;  then  Gemini, 
or  the  Twins — that  is,  Virtue  and  Vice ;  we  try  to  reach  Vir- 

21 


482  THE    DOUBLOON. 

tue,  when  lo  !  comes  Cancer  the  Crab,  and  drags  us  back ;  and 
here,  going  from  Virtue,  Leo,  a  roaring  Lion,  lies  in  the  path — 
he  gives  a  few  fierce  bites  and  surly  dabs  with  his  paw  ;  we 
escape,  and  hail  Virgo,  the  Virgin  !  that's  our  first  love ;  we 
marry  and  think  to  be  happy  for  aye,  when  pop  comes  Libra,  or 
the  Scales — happiness  weighed  and  found  wanting  ;  and  while 
we  are  very  sad  about  that,  Lord !  how  we  suddenly  jump,  as 
Scorpio,  or  the  Scorpion,  stings  us  in  rear  ;  we  are  curing  the 
wound,  when  whang  come  the  arrows  all  round  ;  Sagittarius,  or 
the  Archer,  is  amusing  himself.  As  we  pluck  out  the  shafts, 
stand  aside !  here's  the  battering-ram,  Capricornus,  or  the 
Goat ;  full  tilt,  he  comes  rushing,  and  headlong  we  are  tossed ; 
when  Aquarius,  or  the  Water-bearer,  pours  out  his  whole  deluge 
and  drowns  us ;  and  to  wind  up  with  Pisces,  or  the  Fishes,  we 
sleep.  There's  a  sermon  now,  writ  in  high  heaven,  and  the  sun 
goes  through  it  every  year,  and  yet  comes  out  of  it  all  alive 
and  hearty.  Jollily  he,  aloft  there,  wheels  through  toil  and 
trouble ;  and  so,  alow  here,  does  jolly  Stubb.  Oh,  jolly's  the 
word  for  aye !  Adieu,  Doubloon !  But  stop  ;  here  comes  little 
King-Post ;  dodge  round  the  try-works,  now,  and  let's  hear 
what  he'll  have  to  say.  There ;  he's  before  it ;  he'll  out  with 
something  presently.     So,  so  ;  he's  beginning." 

"  I  see  nothing  here,  but  a  round  thing  made  of  gold,  and 
whoever  raises  a  certain  whale,  this  round  thing  belongs  to  him. 
So,  what's  all  this  staring  been  about  ?  It  is  worth  sixteen 
dollars,  that's  true ;  and  at  two  cents  the  cigar,  that's  nine  hun- 
dred and  sixty  cigars.  I  wont  smoke  dirty  pipes  like  Stubb, 
but  I  like  cigars,  and  here's  nine  hundred  and  sixty  of  them  ; 
so  here  goes  Flask  aloft  to  spy  'em  out." 

"  Shall  I  call  that  wise  or  foolish,  now  ;  if  it  be  really  wise  it 
has  a  foolish  look  to  it ;  yet,  if  it  be  really  foolish,  then  has  it  a 
sort  of  wiseish  look  to  it.  But,  avast ;  here  comes  our  old 
Manxman — the  old  hearse-driver,  he  must  have  been,  that  is, 
before  he  took  to  the  sea.     He  luffs  up  before  the  doubloon ; 


THE    DOUBLOON.  483 

halloa,  and  goes  round  on  the  other  side  of  the  mast ;  why, 
there's  a  horse-shoe  nailed  on  that  side ;  and  now  he's  back 
again ;  what  does  that  mean  ?  Hark  !  he's  muttering — voice 
like  an  old  worn-out  coffee-mill.     Prick  ears,  and  listen  !" 

"  If  the  White  Whale  be  raised,  it  must  be  in  a  month  and 
a  day,  when  the  sun  stands  in  some  one  of  these  signs.  I've 
studied  signs,  and  know  their  marks ;  they  were  taught  me  two 
score  years  ago,  by  the  old  witch  in  Copenhagen.  Now,  in 
what  sign  will  the  sun  then  be  ?  The  horse-shoe  sign  ;  for  there 
it  is,  right  opposite  the  gold.  And  what's  the  horse-shoe  sign  ? 
The  lion  is  the  horse-shoe  sign — the  roaring  and  devouring 
Hon.     Ship,  old  ship  !  my  old  head  shakes  to  think  of  thee." 

"  There's  another  rendering  now ;  but  still  one  text.  All  sorts 
of  men  in  one  kind  of  world,  you  see.  Dodge  again !  here 
comes  Queequeg — all  tattooing — looks  like  the  signs  of  the 
Zodiac  himself.  What  says  the  Cannibal  ?  As  I  live  he's  com- 
paring notes ;  looking  at  his  thigh  bone ;  thinks  the  sun  is  in 
the  thigh,  or  in  the  calf,  or  in  the  bowels,  I  suppose,  as  the  old 
women  talk  Surgeon's  Astronomy  in  the  back  country.  And  by 
Jove,  he's  found  something  there  in  the  vicinity  of  his  thigh — I 
guess  it's  Sagittarius,  or  the  Archer.  No :  he  don't  know  what 
to  make  of  the  doubloon  ;  he  takes  it  for  an  old  button  off  some 
king's  trowsers.  But,  aside  again !  here  comes  that  ghost- devil, 
Fedallah ;  tail  coiled  out  of  sight  as  usual,  oakum  in  the  toes  of 
his  pumps  as  usual.  What  does  he  say,  with  that  look  of 
his  ?  Ah,  only  makes  a  sign  to  the  sign  and  bows  himself ; 
there  is  a  sun  on  the  coin — fire  worshipper,  depend  upon  it. 
Ho !  more  and  more.  This  way  comes  Pip — poor  boy !  would 
he  had  died,  or  I ;  he's  half  horrible  to  me.  He  too  has  been 
watching  all  of  these  interpreters — myself  included — and  look 
now,  he  comes  to  read,  with  that  unearthly  idiot  face.  Stand 
away  again  and  hear  him.     Hark  ! 

"  I  look,  you  look,  he  looks ;  we  look,  ye  look,  they  look." 

"Upon  my  soul,  he's  been  studying  Murray's  Grammar! 


484  THE    DOUBLOON. 

Improving  his  mind,  poor  fellow !  But  what's  that  he  says 
now — hist!" 

"  I  look,  you  look,  he  looks  ;  we  look,  ye  look,  they  look." 

"  Why,  he's  getting  it  by  heart — hist !  again." 

"  I  look,  you  look,  he  looks ;  we  look,  ye  look,  they  look." 

"  Well,  that's  funny." 

"  And  I,  you,  and  he ;  and  we,  ye,  and  they,  are  all  hats ;  and 
I'm  a  crow,  especially  when  I  stand  a'top  of  this  pine  tree  here. 
Caw  !  caw !  caw !  caw  !  caw  !  caw  !  Ain't  I  a  crow  ?  And 
where's  the  scare-crow  ?  There  he  stands ;  two  bones  stuck 
into  a  pair  of  old  trowsers,  and  two  more  poked  into  the  sleeves 
of  an  old  jacket." 

"  Wonder  if  he  means  me  ? — complimentary ! — poor  lad ! — 
I  could  go  hang  myself.  Any  way,  for  the  present,  I'll  quit 
Pip's  vicinity.  I  can  stand  the  rest,  for  they  have  plain  wits ; 
but  he's  too  crazy-witty  for  my  sanity.  So,  so,  I  leave  him 
muttering." 

"  Here's  the  ship's  navel,  this  doubloon  here,  and  they  are  all 
on  fire  to  unscrew  it.  But,  unscrew  your  navel,  and  what's  the 
consequence  ?  Then  again,  if  it  stays  here,  that  is  ugly,  too,  for 
when  aught's  nailed  to  the  mast  it's  a  sign  that  things  grow 
desperate.  Ha,  ha !  old  Ahab  !  the  White  Whale  ;  he'll  nail  ye  ! 
This  is  a  pine  tree.  My  father,  in  old  Tolland  county,  cut  down 
a  pine  tree  once,  and  found  a  silver  ring  grown  over  in  it ;  some 
old  darkey's  wedding  ring.  How  did  it  get  there  ?  And  so 
they'll  say  in  the  resurrection,  when  they  come  to  fish  up  this 
old  mast,  and  find  a  doubloon  lodged  in  it,  with  bedded  oysters 
for  the  shaggy  bark.  Oh,  the  gold!  the  precious,  precious 
gold ! — the  green  miser  '11  hoard  ye  soon !  Hish !  hish  !  God 
goes  'mong  the  worlds  blackberrying.  Cook  !  ho,  cook !  and 
cook  us !  Jenny !  hey,  hey,  hey,  hey,  hey,  Jenny,  Jenny  !  and 
get  your  hoe-cake  done !" 


LEG    AND    ARM.  485 


CHAPTER  0. 

LEG    AND    ARM. 

THE  PEQUOD,  OF  NANTUCKET,  MEETS  THE  SAMUEL  ENDERBY,  OS 
LONDON. 

"  Ship,  ahoy  !     Hast  seen  the  White  Whale  ?" 

So  cried  Ahab,  once  more  hailing  a  ship  showing  English 
colors,  bearing  down  under  the  stern.  Trumpet  to  mouth,  the 
old  man  was  standing  in  his  hoisted  quarter-boat,  his  ivory  leg 
plainly  revealed  to  the  stranger  captain,  who  was  carelessly 
reclining  in  his  own  boat's  bow.  He  was  a  darkly-tanned,  burly, 
good-natured,  fine-looking  man,  of  sixty  or  thereabouts,  dressed 
in  a  spacious  roundabout,  t*hat  hung  round  him  in  festoons  of 
blue  pilot-cloth ;  and  one  empty  arm  of  this  jacket  streamed 
behind  him  like  the  broidered  arm  of  a  huzzar's  surcoat. 

"  Hast  seen  the  White  Whale  ?" 

"  See  you  this  ?"  and  withdrawing  it  from  the  folds  that  had 
hidden  it,  he  held  up  a  white  arm  of  sperm  whale  bone,  termi- 
nating in  a  wooden  head  like  a  mallet. 

"  Man  my  boat !"  cried  Ahab,  impetuously,  and  tossing  ahout 
the  oars  near  him — "  Stand  by  to  lower  !" 

In  less  than  a  minute,  without  quitting  his  little  craft,  he  and 
his  crew  were  dropped  to  the  water,  and  were  soon  alongside 
of  the  stranger.  But  here  a  curious  difficulty  presented  itself. 
In  the  excitement  of  the  moment,  Ahab  had  forgotten  that  since 
the  loss  of  his  leg  he  had  never  once  stepped  on  board  of  any 
vessel  at  sea  but  his  own,  and  then  it  was  always  by  an  inge- 
nious and  very  handy  mechanical  contrivance  peculiar  to  the 
Pequod,  and  a  thing  not  to  be  rigged  and  shipped  in  any  other 


486  LEG    AND    ARM. 

vessel  at  a  moment's  warning.  Now,  it  is  no  very  easy  matter 
for  anybody — except  those  who  are  almost  hourly  used  to  it, 
like  whalemen — to  clamber  up  a  ship's  side  from  a  boat  on  the 
open  sea ;  for  the  great  swells  now  lift  the  boat  high  up  towards 
the  bulwarks,  and  then  instantaneously  drop  it  half  way  down 
to  the  kelson.  So,  deprived  of  one  leg,  and  the  strange  ship 
of  course  being  altogether  unsupplied  with  the  kindly  invention, 
Ahab  now  found  himself  abjectly  reduced  to  a  clumsy  landsman 
again;  hopelessly  eyeing  the  uncertain  changeful  height  he 
could  hardly  hope  to  attain. 

It  has  before  been  hinted,  perhaps,  that  eveiy  little  untoward 
circumstance  that  befel  him,  and  which  indirectly  sprang  from 
his  luckless  mishap,  almost  invariably  irritated  or  exasperated 
Ahab.  And  in  the  present  instance,  all  this  was  heightened 
by  the  sight  of  the  two  officers  of  the  strange  ship,  leaning  over 
the  side,  by  the  perpendicular  ladder  of  nailed  cleets  there,  and 
swinging  towards  him  a  pair  of  tastefully-ornamented  man- 
ropes  ;  for  at  first  they  did  not  se5m  to  bethink  them  that  a 
one-legged  man  must  be  too  much  of  a  cripple  to  use  their  sea 
bannisters.  But  this  awkwardness  only  lasted  a  minute,  be- 
cause the  strange  captain,  observing  at  a  glance  how  affaire 
stood,  cried  out,  "  I  see,  I  see ! — avast  heaving  there !  Jump, 
boys,  and  swing  over  the  cutting-tackle." 

As  good  luck  would  have  it,  they  had  had  a  whale  alongside 
a  day  or  two  previous,  and  the  great  tackles  were  still  aloft,  and 
the  massive  curved  blubber-hook,  now  clean  and  dry,  was  still 
attached  to  the  end.  This  was  quickly  lowered  to  Ahab,  who 
at  once  comprehending  it  all,  slid  his  solitary  thigh  into  the 
curve  of  the  hook  (it  was  like  sitting  in  the  fluke  of  an  anchor, 
or  the  crotch  of  an  apple  tree),  and  then  giving  the  word,  held 
himself  fast,  and  at  the  same  time  also  helped  to  hoist  his  own 
weight,  by  pulling  hand-over-hand  upon  one  of  the  running 
parts  of  the  tackle.  Soon  he  was  carefully  swung  inside  the 
high  bulwarks,  and   gently   landed  upon   the  capstan   head. 


LEGANDARM.  487 

With  his  ivory  arm  frankly  thrust  forth  in  welcome,  the  other 
captain  advanced,  and  Ahab,  putting  out  his  ivory  leg,  and 
crossing  the  ivory  arm  (like  two  sword-fish  blades)  cried  out  in 
his  walrus  way,  "  Aye,  aye,  hearty  !  let  us  shake  bones  together  ! 
— an  arm  and  a  leg ! — an  arm  that  never  can  shrink,  d'ye  see  ; 
and  a  leg  that  never  can  run.  Where  did'st  thou  see  the 
White  Whale  ? — how  long  ago  ?" 

"The  White  Whale,"  said  the  Englishman,  pointing  his 
ivory  arm  towards  the  East,  and  taking  a  rueful  sight  along  it, 
as  if  it  had  been  a  telescope ;  "  There  I  saw  him,  on  the  Line, 
last  season." 

"  And  he  took  that  arm  off,  did  he  ?"  asked  Ahab,  now  slid- 
ing down  from  the  capstan,  and  resting  on  the  Englishman's 
shoulder,  as  he  did  so. 

"  Aye,  he  was  the  cause  of  it,  at  least ;  and  that  leg,  too  ?" 
"  Spin  me  the  yarn,"  said  Ahab ;  "  how  was  it  ?" 
"It  was  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  ever  cruised  on  the 
Line,"  began  the  Englishman.  "  I  was  ignorant  of  the  White 
Whale  at  that  time.  Well,  one  day  we  lowered  for  a  pod  of 
four  or  five  whales,  and  my  boat  fastened  to  one  of  them  ;  a 
regular  circus  horse  he  was,  too,  that  went  milling  and  milling 
round  so,  that  my  boat's  crew  could  only  trim  dish,  by  sitting 
all  their  sterns  on  the  outer  gunwale.  Presently  up  breaches 
from  the  bottom  of  the  sea  a  bouncing  great  whale,  with  a 
milky-white  head  and  hump,  all  crows'  feet  and  wrinkles." 

"  It  was  he,  it  was  he !"  cried  Ahab,  suddenly  letting  out  his 
suspended  breath. 

"  And  harpoons  sticking  in  near  his  starboard  fin." 
"  Aye,  aye — they  were  mine — my  irons,"  cried  Ahab,  exult- 
ingly — "  but  on  !" 

"  Give  me  a  chance,  then,"  said  the  Englishman,  gootl- 
humoredly.  "  Well,  this  old  great-grandfather,  with  the  white 
head  and  hump,  runs  all  afoam  into  the  pod,  and  goes  to 
snapping  furiously  at  my  fast-line." 


488  LEG    AND    ARM 


"  Aye,  I  see ! — wanted  to  part  it ;  free  the  fast-fish — an  old 
trick — I  know  him." 

"  How  it  was  exactly,"  continued  the  one-armed  commander, 
"  I  do  not  know ;  but  in  biting,  the  fine,  it  got  foul  of  his  teeth, 
caught  there  somehow ;  but  we  didn't  know  it  then ;  so  that 
when  we  afterwards  pulled  on  the  line,  bounce  we  came 
plump  on  to  his  hump !  instead  of  the  other  whale's  that  went 
off  to  windward,  all  fluking.  Seeing  how  matters  stood,  and 
what  a  noble  great  whale  it  was — the  noblest  and  biggest  I 
ever  saw,  sir,  in  my  life — I  resolved  to  capture  him,  spite  of  the 
boiling  rage  he  seemed  to  be  in.  And  thinking  the  hap-hazard 
line  would  get  loose,  or  the  tooth  it  was  tangled  to  migbt  draw 
(for  I  have  a  devil  of  a  boat's  crew  for  a  pull  on  a  whale-line) ; 
seeing  all  this,  I  say,  I  jumped  into  my  first  mate's  boat — Mr. 
Mounttop's  here  (by  the  way,  Captain — Mounttop  ;  Mounttop 
— the  captain)  ; — as  I  was  saying,  I  jumped  into  Mounttop's 
boat,  which,  d'ye  see,  was  gunwale  and  gunwale  with  mine, 
then ;  and  snatching  the  first  harpoon,  let  this  old  great-grand- 
father have  it.  But,  Lord,  look  you,  sir — hearts  and  souls  alive, 
man — the  next  instant,  in  a  jiff,  I  was  blind  as  a  bat — both 
eyes  out — all  befogged  and  bedeadened  with  black  foam — the 
whale's  tail  looming  straight  up  out  of  it,  perpendicular  in  the 
air,  like  a  marble  steeple.  No  use  sterning  all,  then  ;  but  as  I 
was  groping  at  midday,  with  a  blinding  sun,  all  crown-jewels ; 
as  I  was  groping,  I  say,  after  the  second  iron,  to  toss  it  over- 
board— down  comes  the  tail  like  a  Lima  tower,  cutting  my  boat 
in  two,  leaving  each  half  in  splinters ;  and,  flukes  first,  the  white 
hump  backed  through  the  wreck,  as  though  it  was  all  chips. 
We  all  struck  out.  To  escape  his  terrible  Sailings,  I  seized 
hold  of  my  harpoon-pole  sticking  in  him,  and  for  a  moment 
clung  to  that  like  a  sucking  fish.  But  a  combing  sea  dashed  me 
off,  and  at  the  same  instant,  the  fish,  taking  one  good  dart  for- 
wards, went  down  like  a  flash  ;  and  the  barb  of  that  cursed 
second  iron  towing  along  near  me  caught  me  here"  (clapping 


LEGANDARM.  489 

his  hand  just  below  his  shoulder) ;  "  yes,  caught  rue  just  here, 
I  say,  and  bore  roe  down  to  Hell's  flames,  I  was  thinking  ;  when, 
when,  all  of  a  sudden,  thank  the  good  God,  the  barb  ript  its 
way  along  the  flesh — clear  along  the  whole  length  of  my  arm 
— came  out  nigh  my  wrist,  and  up  I  floated  ; — and  that  gentle- 
man there  will  tell  you  the  rest  (by  the  way,  captain — Dr. 
Bunger,  ship's  surgeon:  Bunger,  my  lad, — the  captain).  Now, 
Bunger  boy,  spin  your  part  of  the  yarn." 

The  professional  gentleman  thus  familiarly  pointed  out,  had 
been  all  the  time  standing  near  them,  with  nothing  specific 
visible,  to  denote  his  gentlemanly  rank  on  board.  His  face  was 
an  exceedingly  round  but  sober  one  ;  he  was  dressed  in  a  faded 
blue  woollen  frock  or  shirt,  and  patched  trowsers  ;  and  had  thus 
far  been  dividing  his  attention  between  a  marlingspike  he  held 
in  one  hand,  and  a  pill-box  held  in  the  other,  occasionally  cast- 
ing a  critical  glance  at  the  ivory  limbs  of  the  two  crippled 
captains.  But,  at  his  superior's  introduction  of  him  to  Ahab, 
he  politely  bowed,  and  straightway  went  on  to  do  his  captain's 
bidding. 

"  It  was  a  shocking  bad  wound,"  began  the  whale-surgeon  ; 
"  and,  taking  my  advice,  Captain  Boomer  here,  stood  our  old 
Sammy — " 

"  Samuel  Enderby  is  the  name  of  my  ship,"  interrupted  the 
one-armed  captain,  addressing  Ahab  ;  "  go  on,  boy." 

"  Stood  our  old  Sammy  off  to  the  northward,  to  get  out  of 
the  blazing  hot  weather  there  on  the  Line.  But  it  was  no  use 
— I  did  all  I  could ;  sat  up  with  him  nights  ;  was  very  severe 
with  him  in  the  matter  of  diet — " 

"  Oh,  very  severe !"  chimed  in  the  patient  himself ;  then 
suddenly  altering  his  voice,  "  Drinking  hot  rum  toddies  with  me 
every  night,  till  he  couldn't  see  to  put  on  the  bandages ;  and 
sending  me  to  bed,  half  seas  over,  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning.  Oh,  ye  stars !  he  sat  up  with  me  indeed,  and  was 
very  severe  in  my  diet.     Oh !  a  great  watcher,  and  very  dieteti- 

21* 


490  LEG    AND    ARM, 


cally  severe,  is  Dr.  Bunger.  (Bunger,  you  clog,  laugh  out ! 
why  don't  ye  ?  You  know  you're  a  precious  jolly  rascal.)  But, 
heave  ahead,  boy,  I'd  rather  be  killed  by  you  than  kept  alive 
by  any  other  man." 

"  My  captain,  you  must  have  ere  this  perceived,  respected 
sir" — said  the  imperturbable  godly-looking  Bunger,  slightly  bow- 
ing to  Ahab — "  is  apt  to  be  facetious  at  times ;  he  spins  us 
many  clever  things  of  that  sort.  But  I  may  as  well  say — en 
passant,  as  the  French  remark — that  I  myself — that  is  to  say, 
Jack  Bunger,  late  of  the  reverend  clergy — am  a  strict  total 
abstinence  man  ;  I  never  drink — " 

"  Water  !"  cried  the  captain  ;  "  he  never  drinks  it ;  it's  a  sort 
of  fits  to  him ;  fresh  water  throws  him  into  the  hydrophobia ; 
but  go  on — go  on  with  the  arm  story." 

"  Yes,  I  may  as  well,"  said  the  surgeon,  coolly.  "  I  was  about 
observing,  sir,  before  Captain  Boomer's  facetious  interruption, 
that  spite  of  my  best  and  severest  endeavors,  the  wound  kept 
getting  worse  and  worse  ;  the  truth  was,  sir,  it  was  as  ugly 
gaping  wound  as  surgeon  ever  saw ;  more  tban  two  feet  and 
several  inches  long.  I  measured  it  with  the  lead  line.  In  short, 
it  grew  black ;  I  knew  what  was  threatened,  and  off  it  came. 
But  I  had  no  hand  in  shipping  that  ivory  arm  there ;  that 
thing  is  against  all  rule" — pointing  at  it  with  the  marlingspike 
— "  that  is  the  captain's  work,  not  mine  ;  he  ordered  the  car- 
penter to  make  it ;  he  had  that  club-hammer  there  put  to  the 
end,  to  knock  some  one's  brains  out  with,  I  suppose,  as  he  tried 
mine  once.  He  flies  into  diabolical  passions  sometimes.  Do 
ye  see  this  dent,  sir" — removing  his  hat,  and  brushing  aside  his 
hair,  and  exposing  a  bowl-like  cavity  in  his  skull,  but  which 
bore  not  the  slightest  scarry  trace,  or  any  token  of  ever  having 
been  a  wound — "  Well,  the  captain  there  will  tell  you  how  that 
came  here  ;  he  knows." 

"  No,  I  don't,"  said  the  captain,  "  but  his  mother  did ;  he 
was  bora  with  it.     Oh,  you  solemn  rogue,  you — you  Bunger ! 


LEGANDARM.  491 

was  there  ever  such  another  Bunger  in  the  watery  world  ? 
Bunger,  when  you  die,  you  ought  to  die  in  pickle,  you  dog; 
you  should  be  preserved  to  future  ages,  you  rascal." 

"  What  became  of  the  White  Whale  ?"  now  cried  Ahab,  who 
thus  far  had  been  impatiently  listening  to  this  bye-play  between 
the  two  Englishmen. 

"  Oh !"  cried  the  one-armed  captain,  "  Oh,  yes !  Well ;  after 
he  sounded,  we  didn't  see  him  again  for  some  time  ;  in  fact,  as 
I  before  hinted,  I  didn't  then  know  what  whale  it  was  that  had 
served  me  such  a  trick,  till  some  time  afterwards,  when  coming 
back  to  the  Line,  we  heard  about  Moby  Dick — as  some  call 
him — and  then  I  knew  it  was  he." 

"  Did'st  thou  cross  his  wake  again  V 

"Twice." 

"But  could  not  fasten?" 

"  Didn't  want  to  try  to :  ain't  one  limb  enough  ?  What 
should  I  do  without  this  other  arm  ?  And  I'm  thinking  Moby 
Dick  doesn't  bite  so  much  as  he  swallows.'' 

"  Well,  then,"  interrupted  Bunger,  "  give  him  your  left  arm 
for  bait  to  get  the  right.  Do  you  know,  gentlemen" — very 
gravely  and  mathematically  bowing  to  each  Captain  in  succes- 
sion— "  Do  you  know,  gentlemen,  that  the  digestive  organs  of 
the  whale  are  so  inscrutably  constructed  by  Divine  Providence, 
that  it  is  quite  impossible  for  him  to  completely  digest  even 
a  man's  arm  ?  And  he  knows  it  too.  So  that  what  you  take 
for  the  White  Whale's  malice  is  only  his  awkwardness.  For  he 
never  means  to  swallow  a  single  limb ;  he  only  thinks  to  terrify 
by  feints.  But  sometimes  he  is  like  the  old  juggling  fellow, 
formerly  a  patient  of  mine  in  Ceylon,  that  making  believe  swal- 
low jack-knives,  once  upon  a  time  let  one  drop  into  him  in  good 
earnest,  and  there  it  stayed  for  a  twelvemonth  or  more ;  when  I 
gave  him  an  emetic,  and  he  heaved  it  up  in  small  tacks,  d'ye 
see.  No  possible  way  for  him  to  digest  that  jack-knife,  and 
fully  incorporate  it  into  his  general  bodily  system.     Yes,  Cap- 


492  LEG    AND    ARM. 

tain  Boomer,  if  you  are  quick  enough  about  it,  and  have  a  mind 
to  pawn  one  arm  for  the  sake  of  the  privilege  of  giving  decent 
burial  to  the  other,  why  in  that  case  the  arm  is  yours  ;  only  let 
the  whale  have  another  chance  at  you  shortly,  that's  all." 

"  No,  thank  ye,  Bunger,"  said  the  English  Captain,  "  he's 
welcome  to  the  arm  he  has,  since  I  can't  help  it,  and  didn't 
know  him  then;  but  not  to  another  one.  No  more  White 
Whales  for  me ;  I've  lowered  for  him  once,  and  that  has  satis-j 
fied  me.  There  would  be  great  glory  in  killing  him,  I  know 
that ;  and  there  is  a  ship-load  of  precious  sperm  in  him,  but, 
hark  ye,  he's  best  let  alone ;  don't  you  think  so,  Captain  ?" — 
glancing  at  the  ivoiy  leg. 

"  He  is.  But  he  will  still  be  hunted,  for  all  that.  What  is 
best  let  alone,  that  accursed  thing  is  not  always  what  least  allures. 
He's  all  a  magnet !  How  long  since  thou  saw'st  him  last  ? 
Which  way  heading  ?" 

"  Bless  my  soul,  and  curse  the  foul  fiend's,"  cried  Bunger, 
stoopingly  walking  round  Ahab,  and  like  a  dog,  strangely 
snuffing;  "this  man's  blood — bring  the  thermometer ! — it's  at 
the  boiling  point ! — his  pulse  makes  these  planks  beat ! — sir !" — 
taking  a  lancet  from  his  pocket,  and  drawing  near  to  Ahab's 
arm. 

"  Avast !"  roared  Ahab,  dashing  him  against  the  bulwarks — 
"  Man  the  boat !     Which  way  heading  ?" 

"  Good  God  !"  cried  the  English  Captain,  to  whom  the  ques- 
tion was  put.  "  What's  the  matter  ?  He  was  heading  east,  I 
think. — Is  your  Captain  crazy  ?"  whispering  Fedallah. 

But  Fedallah,  putting  a  finger  on  his  lip,  slid  over  the  bul- 
warks to  take  the  boat's  steering  oar,  and  Ahab,  swinging  the 
cutting-tackle  towards  him,  commanded  the  ship's  sailors  to 
stand  by  to  lower. 

In  a  moment  he  was  standing  in  the  boat's  stern,  and  the 
Manilla  men  were  springing  to  their  oars.  In  vain  the  English 
Captain  hailed  him.     With  back  to  the  stranger  ship,  and  face 


THE    DECANTER.  493 

set  like  a  flint  to  his  own,  Ahab  stood  upright  till  alongside  of 
the  Pequod. 


CHAPTER  CI. 

THE    DECANTER. 

Eke  the  English  ship  fades  from  sight,  be  it  set  down  here, 
that  she  hailed  from  London,  and  was  named  after  the  late 
Samuel  Enderby,  merchant  of  that  city,  the  original  of  the 
famous  whaling  house  of  Enderby  &  Sons  ;  a  house  which  in 
my  poor  whaleman's  opinion,  comes  not  far  behind  the  united 
royal  houses  of  the  Tudors  and  Bourbons,  in  point  of  real  his- 
torical interest.  How  long,  prior  to  the  year  of  our  Lord  17*75, 
this  great  whaling  house  was  in  existence,  my  numerous  fish- 
documents  do  not  make  plain ;  but  in  that  year  (1775)  it  fitted 
out  the  first  English  ships  that  ever  regularly  hunted  the  Sperm 
Whale ;  though  for  some  score  of  years  previous  (ever  since  1726) 
our  valiant  Coffins  and  Maceys  of  Nantucket  and  the  Vineyard 
had  in  large  fleets  pursued  that  Leviathan,  but  only  in  the  North 
and  South  Atlantic :  not  elsewhere.  Be  it  distinctly  recorded 
here,  that  the  Nantucketers  were  the  first  among  mankind  to 
harpoon  with  civilized  steel  the  great  Sperm  Whale ;  and  that 
for  half  a  century  they  were  the  only  people  of  the  whole 
globe  who  so  harpooned  him. 

In  1778,  a  fine  ship,  the  Amelia,  fitted  out  for  the  express 
purpose,  and  at  the  sole  charge  of  the  vigorous  Enderbys, 
boldly  rounded  Cape  Horn,  and  was  the  first  among  the  nations 
to  lower  a  whale-boat  of  any  sort  in  the  great  South  Sea.  The 
voyage  was  a  skilful  and  lucky  one ;  and  returning  to  her  berth 
with  her  hold  full  of  the  precious  sperm,  the  Amelia's  example 
was  soon  followed  by  other  ships,  English  and  American, 
and  thus  the  vast  Sperm  Whale  grounds  of  the  Pacific  were 


494  THE    DECANTER. 

thrown  open.  But  not  content  with  this  good  deed,  the  inde- 
fatigable house  again  bestirred  itself :  Samuel  and  all  his  Sons — 
how  many,  their  mother  only  knows — -and  under  their  imme- 
diate auspices,  and  partly,  I  think,  at  their  expense,  the  British 
government  was  induced  to  send  the  sloop-of-war  Rattler  on  a 
whaling  voyage  of  discovery  into  the  South  Sea.  Commanded 
by  a  naval  Post-Captain,  the  Rattler  made  a  rattling  voyage  of 
it,  and  did  some  service ;  how  much  does  not  appear.  But  this 
is  not  all.  In  1819,  the  same  house  fitted  out  a  discovery 
whale  ship  of  their  own,  to  go  on  a  tasting  cruise  to  the  remote 
waters  of  Japan.  That  ship — well  called  the  "  Syren  " — made 
a  noble  experimental  cruise ;  and  it  was  thus  that  the  great 
Japanese  Whaling  Ground  first  became  generally  known.  The 
Syren  in  this  famous  voyage  was  commanded  by  a  Captain 
Coffin,  a  Nantucketer. 

All  honor  to  the  Enderbies,  therefore,  whose  house,  I  think, 
exists  to  the  present  day ;  though  doubtless  the  original  Samuel 
must  long  ago  have  slipped  his  cable  for  the  great  South  Sea 
of  the  other  world. 

The  ship  named  after  him  was  worthy  of  the  honor,  being  a 
very  fast  sailer  and  a  noble  craft  every  way.  I  boarded  her  once 
at  midnight  somewhere  off  the  Patagonian  coast,  and  drank 
good  flip  down  in  the  forecastle.  It  was  a  fine  gam  we  had, 
and  they  were  all  trumps — every  soul  on  board.  A  short  life 
to  them,  and  a  jolly  death.  And  that  fine  gam  I  had — long, 
very  long  after  old  Ahab  touched  her  planks  with  his  ivory 
heel — it  minds  me  of  the  noble,  solid,  Saxon  hospitality  of  that 
ship ;  and  may  my  parson  forget  me,  and  the  devil  remember 
me,  if  I  ever  lose  sight  of  it.  Flip  ?  Did  I  say  we  had  flip  ? 
Yes,  and  we  flipped  it  af  the  rate  of  ten  gallons  the  hour ;  and 
when  the  squall  came  (for  it's  squally  off  there  by  Patagonia), 
and  all  hands — visitors  and  all — were  called  to  reef  topsails,  we 
were  so  top-heavy  that  we  had  to  swing  each  other  aloft  in 
bowlines ;  and  we  ignorantly  furled  the  skirts  of  our  jackets  into 


THE    DECANTER.  495 

the  sails,  so  that  we  hung  there,  reefed  fast  in  the  howling  gale,  a 
warning  example  to  all  drunken  tars.  However,  the  masts  did 
not  go  overboard ;  and  by  and  bye  we  scrambled  down,  so 
sober,  that  we  had  to  pass  the  flip  again,  though  the  savage 
salt  spray  bursting  down  the  forecastle  scuttle,  rather  too  much 
diluted  and  pickled  it  to  my  taste. 

The  beef  was  fine — tough,  but  with  body  in  it.  They  said 
it  was  bull-beef;  others,  that  it  was  dromedary  beef;  but 
I  do  not  know,  for  certain,  how  that  was.  They  had  dumplings 
too;  small,  but  substantial,  symmetrically  globular,  and  inde- 
structible dumplings.  I  fancied  that  you  could  feel  them, 
and  roll  them  about  in  you  after  they  were  swallowed.  If  you 
stooped  over  too  far  forward,  you  risked  their  pitching  out  of 
you  like  billiard-balls.  The  bread — but  that  couldn't  be  helped ; 
besides,  it  was  an  anti-scorbutic ;  in  short,  the  bread  contained 
the  only  fresh  fare  they  had.  But  the  forecastle  was  not  very 
light,  and  it  was  very  easy  to  step  over  into  a  dark  corner 
when  you  ate  it.  But  all  in  all,  taking  her  from  truck  to  helm, 
considering  the  dimensions  of  the  cook's  boilers,  including  his 
own  live  parchment  boilers  ;  fore  and  aft,  1  say,  the  Samuel 
Enderby  was  a  jolly  ship ;  of  good  fare  and  plenty ;  fine  flip 
and  strong ;  crack  fellows  all,  and  capital  from  boot  heels  to 
hat-band. 

But  why  was  it,  think  ye,  that  the  Samuel  Enderby,  and 
some  other  English  whalers  I  know  of — not  all  though — were 
such  famous,  hospitable  ships ;  that  passed  round  the  beef,  and 
the  bread,  and  the  can,  and  the  joke  ;  and  were  not  soon  weary 
of  eating,  and  drinking,  and  laughing  ?  I  will  tell  you.  The 
abounding  good  cheer  of  these  English  whalers  is  matter  for 
historical  research.  Nor  have  I  been  at  all  sparing  of  historical 
whale  research,  when  it  has  seemed  needed. 

The  English  were  preceded  in  the  whale  fishery  by  the  Hol- 
landers, Zealanders,  and  Danes ;  from  whom  they  derived  many 
terms  still  extant  in  the  fishery ;  and  what  is  yet  more,  their 


496  THE    DECANTER. 

fat  old  fashions,  touching  plenty  to  eat  and  drink.  For,  as  a 
general  thing,  the  English  merchant-ship  scrimps  her  crew ;  but 
not  so  the  English  whaler.  Hence,  in  the  English,  this  thing 
of  whaling  good  cheer  is  not  normal  and  natural,  but  incidental 
and  particular ;  and,  therefore,  must  have  some  special  origin, 
which  is  here  pointed  out,  and  will  be  still  further  elucidated. 

During  my  researches  in  the  Leviathanic  histories,  I  stumbled 
upon  an  ancient  Dutch  volume,  which,  by  the  musty  whaling 
smell  of  it,  I  knew  must  be  about  whalers.  The  title  was, 
"  Dan  Coopman,"  wherefore  I  concluded  that  this  must  be  the 
invaluable  memoirs  of  some  Amsterdam  cooper  in  the  fishery, 
as  every  whale  ship  must  carry  its  cooper.  I  was  reinforced  in 
this  opinion  by  seeing  that  it  was  the  production  of  one  "  Fitz 
Swackhammer."  But  my  friend  Dr.  Snodhead,  a  very  learned 
man,  professor  of  Low  Dutch  and  High  German  in  the  college 
of  Santa  Claus  and  St.  Pott's,  to  whom  I  handed  the  work  for 
translation,  giving  him  a  box  of  sperm  candles  for  his  trouble — 
this  same  Dr.  Snodhead,  so  soon  as  he  spied  the  book,  assured 
me  that  "  Dan  Coopman"  did  not  mean  "  The  Cooper,'*  but 
"The  Merchant."  In  short,  this  ancient  and  learned  Low 
Dutch  book  treated  of  the  commerce  of  Holland ;  and,  among 
other  subjects,  contained  a  very  interesting  account  of  its  whale 
fishery.  And  in  this  chapter  it  was,  headed  "  Smeer,"  or  "  Fat," 
that  I  found  a  long  detailed  list  of  the  outfits  for  the  larders 
and  cellars  of  180  sail  of  Dutch  whalemen;  from  which  list,  as 
translated  by  Dr.  Snodhead,  I  transcribe  the  following : 

400,000  lbs.  of  beef. 
60,000  lbs.  Friesland  pork. 

150,000  lbs.  of  stock  fish. 

550,000  lbs.  of  biscuit. 
72,000  lbs.  of  soft  bread. 

2,800  firkins  of  butter. 
20,000  lbs.  Texel  &  Leyden  cheese. 

144,000  lbs.  cheese  (probably  an  inferior  article). 


THE    DECANTER.  497 

550  ankers  of  Geneva. 
10,800  barrels  of  beer. 

Most  statistical  tables  are  parchingly  dry  in  tbe  reading ;  not 
so  in  tbe  present  case,  bowever,  where  tbe  reader  is  flooded 
witb  wbole  pipes,  barrels,  quarts,  and  gills  of  good  gin  and 
good  cbeer. 

At  the  time,  I  devoted  three  days  to  the  studious  digesting 
of  all  this  beer,  beef,  and  bread,  during  which  many  profound 
thoughts  were  incidentally  suggested  to  me,  capable  of  a  transcen- 
dental and  Platonic  application ;  and,  furthermore,  I  compiled 
supplementary  tables  of  my  own,  touching  the  probable  quan- 
tity of  stock-fish,  <fec,  consumed  by  every  Low  Dutch  harpooneer 
in  that  ancient  Greenland  and  Spitzbergen  whale  fishery.  In 
the  first  place,  the  amount  of  butter,  and  Texel  and  Leyden 
cheese  consumed,  seems  amazing.  I  impute  it,  though,  to  their 
naturally  unctuous  natures,  being  rendered  still  more  unctuous 
by  the  nature  of  their  vocation,  and  especially  by  their  pursuing 
their  game  in  those  frigid  Polar  Seas,  on  the  very  coasts  of 
that  Esquimaux  country  where  the  convivial  natives  pledge 
each  other  in  bumpers  of  train  oil. 

The  quantity  of  beer,  too,  is  very  large,  10,800  barrels.  Now, 
as  those  polar  fisheries  could  only  be  prosecuted  in  the  short 
summer  of  that  climate,  so  that  the  whole  cruise  of  one  of  these 
Dutch  whalemen,  including  the  short  voyage  to  and  from  the 
'Spitzbergen  sea,  did  not  much  exceed  three  months,  say,  and 
reckoning  30  men  to  each  of  their  fleet  of  180  sail,  we  have 
5,400  Low  Dutch  seamen  in  all ;  therefore,  I  say,  we  have  pre- 
cisely two  barrels  of  beer  per  man,  for  a  twelve  weeks'  allowance, 
exclusive  of  bis  fair  proportion  of  that  550  ankers  of  gin.  Now, 
whether  these  gin  and  beer  harpooneers,  so  fuddled  as  one 
might  fancy  them  to  have  been,  were  the  right  sort  of  men  to 
stand  up  in  a  boat's  head,  and  take  good  aim  at  flying  whales ; 
this  would  seem  somewhat  improbable.  Yet  they  did  aim  at 
them,  and  hit  them  too.     But  this  was  very  far  North,  be  it 


498  A    BOWER    IN    THE    ARSACIDES. 

remembered,  where  beer  agrees  well  with  the  constitution ; 
upon  the  Equator,  in  our  southern  fishery,  beer  would  be  apt  to 
make  the  harpooneer  sleepy  at  the  mast-head  and  boozy  in  his 
boat ;  and  grievous  loss  might  ensue  to  Nantucket  and  New 
Bedford. 

But  no  more ;  enough  has  been  said  to  show  that  the  old 
Dutch  whalers  of  two  or  three  centuries  ago  were  high  livers ; 
and  that  the  English  whalers  have  not  neglected  so  excellent  an 
example.  For^  say  they,  when  cruising  in  an  empty  ship,  if 
you  can  get  nothing  better  out  of  the  world,  get  a  good  dinner 
out  of  it,  at  least.     And  this  empties  the  decanter* 


CHAPTER  CII. 

A    BOWER   IN   THE    ARSACIDES. 

Hitherto,  in  descriptively  treating  of  the  Sperm  Whale,  I 
have  chiefly  dwelt  upon  the  marvels  of  his  outer  aspect;  or 
separately  and  in  detail  upon  some  few  interior  structural 
features.  But  to  a  large  and  thorough  sweeping  comprehension 
of  him,  it  behoves  me  now  to  unbutton  him  still  further,  and 
untagging  the  points  of  his  hose,  unbuckling  his  garters,  and 
casting  loose  the  hooks  and  the  eyes  of  the  joints  of  his  inner- 
most bones,  set  him  before  you  in  his  ultimatum ;  that  is  to 
say,  in  his  unconditional  skeleton. 

But  how  now,  Ishmael?  How  is  it,  that  you,  a  mere  oars- 
man in  the  fishery,  pretend  to  know  aught  about  the  subter- 
ranean parts  of  the  whale  ?  Did  erudite  Stubb,  mounted  upon 
your  capstan,  deliver  lectures  on  the  anatomy  of  the  Cetacea ; 
and  by  help  of  the  windlass,  hold  up  a  specimen  rib  for  exhibi- 
tion ?  Explain  thyself,  Ishmael.  Can  you  land  a  full-grown 
whale  on  your  deck  for  examination,  as  a  cook  dishes  a  roast- 
pig  ?     Surely  not.     A  veritable  witness  have  you  hitherto  been, 


A    BOWER    IN    THE    ARSACIDES.  499 

Ishinael ;  but  have  a  care  how  you  seize  the  privilege  of  Jonah 
alone  ;  the  privilege  of  discoursing  upon  the  joists  and  beams ; 
the  rafters,  ridge-pole,  sleepers,  and  under-pinnings,  making  up 
the  frame-work  of  leviathan ;  and  belike  of  the  tallow-vats,  dairy- 
rooms,  butteries,  and  cheeseries  in  his  bowels. 

I  confess,  that  since  Jonah,  few  whalemen  have  penetrated 
very  far  beneath  the  skin  of  the  adult  whale  ;  nevertheless,  I 
have  been  blessed  with  an  opportunity  to  dissect  him  in  minia- 
ture. In  a  ship  I  belonged  to,  a  small  cub  Sperm  Whale  was 
once  bodily  hoisted  to  the  deck  for  his  poke  or  bag,  to  make 
sheaths  for  the  barbs  of  the  harpoons,  and  for  the  heads  of  the 
lances.  Think  you  I  let  that  chance  go,  without  using  my 
boat-hatchet  and  jack-knife,  and  breaking  the  seal  and  reading 
all  the  contents  of  that  young  cub  ? 

And  as  for  my  exact  knowledge  of  the  bones  of  the  leviathan 
in  their  gigantic,  full  grown  development,  for  that  rare  know- 
ledge I  am  indebted  to  my  late  royal  friend  Tranquo,  king 
of  Tranque,  one  of  the  Arsacides.  For  being  at  Tranque,  years 
ago,  when  attached  to  the  trading-ship  Dey  of  Algiers,  I  was 
invited  to  spend  part  of  the  Arsacidean  holidays  with  the  lord 
of  Tranque,  at  his  retired  palm  villa  at  Pupella ;  a  sea-side  glen 
not  very  far  distant  from  what  our  sailors  called  Bamboo-Town, 
his  capital. 

Among  many  other  fine  qualities,  my  royal  friend  Tranquo, 
being  gifted  with  a  devout  love  for  all  matters  of  barbaric  vertii, 
had  brought  together  in  Pupella  whatever  rare  things  the  more 
ingenious  of  his  people  could  invent ;  chiefly  carved  woods  of 
wonderful  devices,  chiselled  shells,  inlaid  spears,  costly  paddles, 
aromatic  canoes ;  and  all  these  distributed  among  whatever 
natural  wonders,  the  wonder-freighted,  tribute-rendering  waves 
had  cast  upon  his  shores. 

Chief  among  these  latter  was  a  great  Sperm  Whale,  which, 
after  an  unusually  long  raging  gale,  had  been  found  dead  and 
stranded,  with  his  head  against  a  cocoa-nut  tree,  whose  plumage- 


500  A    BOWER    IN    THE    ARSACIDES. 

like,  tufted  droopings  seemed  his  verdant  jet.  When  the  vast 
body  had  at  last  been  stripped  of  its  fathom-deep  enfoldings, 
and  the  bones  become  dust  dry  in  the  sun,  then  the  skeleton 
was  carefully  transported  up  the  Pupella  glen,  where  a  grand 
temple  of  lordly  palms  now  sheltered  it. 

The  ribs  were  hung  with  trophies ;  the  vertebrae  were  carved 
with  Arsacidean  annals,  in  strange  hieroglyphics  ;  in  the  skull, 
the  priests  kept  up  an  unextinguished  aromatic  flame,  so  that 
the  mystic  head  again  sent  forth  its  vapory  spout ;  while,  sus- 
pended from  a  bough,  the  terrific  lower  jaw  vibrated  over  all  the 
devotees,  like  the  hair-hung  sword  that  so  affrighted  Damocles. 

It  was  a  wondrous  sight.  The  wood  was  green  as  mosses  of 
the  Icy  Glen ;  the  trees  stood  high  and  haughty,  feeling  their 
living  sap ;  the  industrious  earth  beneath  was  as  a  weaver's 
loom,  with  a  gorgeous  carpet  on  it,  whereof  the  ground-vine 
tendrils  formed  the  warp  and  woof,  and  the  living  flowers  the 
figures.  All  the  trees,  with  all  their  laden  branches ;  all  the 
shrubs,  and  ferns,  and  grasses ;  the  message-carrying  ah* ;  all 
these  unceasingly  were  active.  Through  the  lacings  of  the  leaves, 
the  great  sun  seemed  a  flying  shuttle  weaving  the  unwearied  ver- 
dure. Oh,  busy  weaver !  unseen  weaver ! — pause  ! — one  word ! — 
whither  flows  the  fabric  ?  what  palace  may  it  deck  ?  wherefore 
all  these  ceaseless  toilings  ?  Speak,  weaver  ! — stay  thy  hand  ! 
— but  one  single  word  with  thee  !  Nay — the  shuttle  flies — the 
figures  float  from  forth  the  loom ;  the  freshet-rushing  carpet  for 
ever  slides  away.  The  weaver-god,  he  weaves;  and  by  that 
weaving  is  he  deafened,  that  he  hears  no  mortal  voice  ;  and  by 
that  humming,  we,  too,  who  look  on  the  loom  are  deafened; 
and  only  when  we  escape  it  shall  we  hear  the  thousand  voices 
that  speak  through  it.  For  even  so  it  is  in  all  material  facto- 
ries. The  spoken  words  that  are  inaudible  among  the  flying 
spindles ;  those  same  words  are  plainly  heard  without  the  walls, 
bursting  from  the  opened  casements.  Thereby  have  villanies 
been  detected.     Ah,  mortal !  then,  be  heedful ;  for  so,  in  all 


A    BOWER    IN    THE    ARSACIDES.  501 

this  din  of  the  great  world's  loom,  thy  subtlest  thinkings  may 
be  overheard  afar. 

Now,  amid  the  green,  life-restless  loom  of  that  Arsacidean 
wood,  the  great,  white,  worshipped  skeleton  lay  lounging — a 
gigantic  idler  !  Yet,  as  the  ever-woven  verdant  warp  and  woof 
intermixed  and  hummed  around  him,  the  mighty  idler  seemed 
the  cunning  weaver ;  himself  all  woven  over  with  the  vines ; 
every  month  assuming  greener,  fresher  verdure ;  but  himself  a 
skeleton.  Life  folded  Death  ;  Death  trellised  Life  ;  the  grim  god 
wived  with  youthful  Life,  and  begat  him  curly-headed  glories. 

Now,  when  with  royal  Tranquo  I  visited  this  wondrous 
whale,  and  saw  the  skull  an  altar,  and  the  artificial  smoke 
ascending  from  where  the  real  jet  had  issued,  I  marvelled  that 
the  king  should  regard  a  chapel  as  an  object  of  vertu.  He 
laughed.  But  more  I  marvelled  that  the  priests  should  swear 
that  smoky  jet  of  his  was  genuine.  To  and  fro  I  paced  before 
this  skeleton — brushed  the  vines  aside — broke  through  the  ribs 
— and  with  a  ball  of  Arsacidean  twine,  wandered,  eddied  long 
amid  its  many  winding,  shaded  colonnades  and  arbors.  But 
soon  my  line  was  out ;  and  following  it  back,  I  emerged  from 
the  opening  where  I  entered.  I  saw  no  living  thing  within ; 
naught  was  there  but  bones. 

Cutting  me  a  green  measuring-rod,  I  once  more  dived 
within  the  skeleton.  From  their  arrow-slit  in  the  skull,  the 
priests  perceived  me  taking  the  altitude  of  the  final  rib.  "  How 
now !"  they  shouted  ;  "  Dar'st  thou  measure  this  our  god ! 
That's  for  us."  "  Aye,  priests — well,  how  long  do  ye  make 
him,  then  ?"  But  hereupon  a  fierce  contest  rose  among  them, 
concerning  feet  and  inches  ;  they  cracked  each  other's  sconces 
with  their  yard-sticks — the  great  skull  echoed — and  seizing  that 
lucky  chance,  I  quickly  concluded  my  own  admeasurements. 

These  admeasurements  I  now  propose  to  set  before  you.  But 
first,  be  it  recorded,  that,  in  this  matter,  I  am  not  free  to  utter 
any  fancied  measurement  I  please.     Because  there  are  skeleton 


502  A    BOWER    IN    THE    ARSACIDES. 

authorities  you  can  refer  to,  to  test  my  accuracy.  There  is  a 
Leviathanic  Museum,  they  tell  me,  in  Hull,  England,  one  of  the 
whaling  ports  of  that  country,  where  they  have  some  fine  speci- 
mens of  fin-backs  and  other  whales.  Likewise,  I  have  heard 
that  in  the  museum  of  Manchester,  in  New  Hampshire,  they 
have  what  the  proprietors  call  "  the  only  perfect  specimen  of  a 
Greenland  or  River  Whale  in  the  United  States."  Moreover, 
at  a  place  in  Yorkshire,  England,  Burton  Constable  by  name,  a 
certain  Sir  Clifford  Constable  has  in  his  possession  the  skeleton 
of  a  Sperm  Whale,  but  of  moderate  size,  by  no  means  of  the  full- 
grown  magnitude  of  my  friend  King  Tranquo's. 

In  both  cases,  the  stranded  whales  to  which  these  two  skele- 
tons belonged,  were  originally  claimed  by  their  proprietors  upon 
similar  grounds.  King  Tranquo  seizing  his  because  he  wanted 
it ;  and  Sir  Clifford,  because  he  was  lord  of  the  seignories  of 
those  parts.  Sir  Clifford's  whale  has  been  articulated  through- 
out ;  so  that,  like  a  great  chest  of  drawers,  you  can  open  and 
shut  him,  in  all  his  bony  cavities — spread  out  his  ribs  like  a 
gigantic  fan — and  swing  all  day  upon  his  lower  jaw.  Locks 
are  to  be  put  upon  some  of  his  trap-doors  and  shutters  ;  and  a 
footman  will  show  round  future  visitors  with  a  bunch  of  keys  at 
his  side.  Sir  Clifford  thinks  of  charging  twopence  for  a  peep  at 
the  whispering  gallery  in  the  spinal  column ;  threepence  to  hear 
the  echo  in  the  hollow  of  his  cerebellum  ;  and  sixpence  for  the 
unrivalled  view  from  his  forehead. 

The  skeleton  dimensions  I  shall  now  proceed  to  set  down  are 
copied  verbatim  from  my  right  arm,  where  I  had  them  tattooed ; 
as  in  my  wild  wanderings  at  that  period,  there  was  no  other 
secure  way  of  preserving  such  valuable  statistics.  But  as  I  was 
crowded  for  space,  and  wished  the  other  parts  of  my  body  to 
remain  a  blank  page  for  a  poem  I  was  then  composing — at 
least,  what  untattooed  parts  might  remain — I  did  not  trouble 
myself  with  the  odd  inches ;  nor,  indeed,  should  inches  at  all 
enter  into  a  congenial  admeasurement  of  the  whale. 


THE    WHALE'S    SKELE10N.  503 


CHAPTER  Cm. 

MEASUREMENT  OF  THE  WHALE's  SKELETON. 

In  the  first  place,  I  wish  to  lay  Defore  you  a  particular,  plain 
statement,  touching  the  living  bulk  of  this  leviathan,  whose 
skeleton  we  are  briefly  to  exhibit.  Such  a  statement  may  prove 
useful  here. 

According  to  a  careful  calculation  I  have  made,  and  which  I 
partly  base  upon  Captain  Scoresby's  estimate,  of  seventy  tons 
for  the  largest  sized  Greenland  whale  of  sixty  feet  in  length ; 
according  to  my  careful  calculation,  I  say,  a  Sperm  Whale  of 
the  largest  magnitude,  between  eighty-five  and  ninety  feet  in 
length,  and  something  less  than  forty  feet  in  its  fullest  circum- 
ference, such  a  whale  will  weigh  at  least  ninety  tons ;  so  that, 
reckoning  thirteen  men  to  a  ton,  he  would  considerably  out- 
weigh the  combined  population  of  a  whole  village  of  one  thou- 
sand one  hundred  inhabitants. 

Think  you  not  then  that  brains,  like  yoked  cattle,  should  be 
put  to  this  leviathan,  to  make  him  at  all  budge  to  any  lands- 
man's imagination  ? 

'Having  already  in  various  ways  put  before  you  his  skull, 
spout-hole,  jaw,  teeth,  tail,  forehead,  fins,  and  divers  other  parts, 
I  shall  now  simply  point  out  what  is  most  interesting  in  the 
general  bulk  of  his  unobstructed  bones.  But  as  the  colossal 
skull  embraces  so  very  large  a  proportion  of  the  entire  extent 
of  the  skeleton ;  as  it  is  by  far  the  most  complicated  part ;  and 
as  nothing  is  to  be  repeated  concerning  it  in  this  chapter,  you 
must  not  fail  to  carry  it  in  your  mind,  or  under  your  arm,  as 
we  proceed,  otherwise  you  will  not  gain  a  complete  notion  of 
the  general  structure  we  are  about  to  view. 


504  THE    WHALE'S    SKELETON. 

In  length,  the  Sperm  Whale's  skeleton  at  Tranque  measured 
seventy-two  feet ;  so  that  when  fully  invested  and  extended  in 
life,  he  must  have  been  ninety  feet  long ;  for  in  the  whale,  the 
skeleton  loses  about  one  fifth  in  length  compared  with  the  living 
body.  Of  this  seventy-two  feet,  his  skull  and  jaw  comprised 
some  twenty  feet,  leaving  some  fifty  feet  of  plain  back-bone. 
Attached  to  this  back-bone,  for  something  less  than  a  third  of 
its  length,  was  the  mighty  circular  basket  of  ribs  which  once 
enclosed  his  vitals. 

To  me  this  vast  ivory-ribbed  chest,  with  the  long,  unrelieved 
sj>ine,  extending  far  away  from  it  in  a  straight  line,  not  a  little 
resembled  the  hull  of  a  great  ship  new-laid  upon  the  stocks, 
when  only  some  twenty  of  her  naked  bow-ribs  are  inserted, 
and  the  keel  is  otherwise,  for  the  time,  but  a  long,  disconnected 
timber. 

The  ribs  were  ten  on  a  side.  The  first,  to  begin  from  the 
neck,  was  nearly  six  feet  long ;  the  second,  third,  and  fourth 
were  each  successively  longer,  till  you  came  to  the  climax  of  the 
fifth,  or  one  of  the  middle  ribs,  which  measured  eight  feet  and 
some  inches.  From  that  part,  the  remaining  ribs  diminished, 
till  the  tenth  and  last  only  spanned  five  feet  and  some  inches. 
In  general  thickness,  they  all  bore  a  seemly  correspondence  to 
their  length.  The  middle  ribs  were  the  most  arched.  In  some 
of  the  Arsacides  they  are  used  for  beams  whereon  to  lay  foot- 
path bridges  over  small  streams. 

In  considering  these  ribs,  I  could  not  but  be  struck  anew  with 
the  circumstance,  so  variously  repeated  in  this  book,  that  the 
skeleton  of  the  whale  is  by  no  means  the  mould  of  his  invested 
form.  The  largest  of  the  Tranque  ribs,  one  of  the  middle  ones, 
occupied  that  part  of  the  fish  which,  in  life,  is  greatest  in  depth. 
Now,  the  greatest  depth  of  the  invested  body  of  this  particular 
whale  must  have  been  at  least  sixteen  feet ;  whereas,  the  cor- 
responding rib  measured  but  little  more  than  eight  feet.  So 
that  this  rib  only  conveyed  half  of  the  true  notion  of  the  living 


THE    WHALE'S    SKELETON.  505 

magnitude  of  that  part.  Besides,  for  some  way,  where  I  now 
saw  but  a  naked  spine,  all  that  had  been  once  wrapped  round 
with  tons  of  added  bulk  in  flesh,  muscle,  blood,  and  bowels.  Still 
more,  for  the  ample  fins,  I  here  saw  but  a  few  disordered  joints ; 
and  in  place  of  the  weighty  and  majestic,  but  boneless  flukes, 
an  utter  blank ! 

How  vain  and  foolish,  then,  thought  I,  for  timid  untravelled 
man  to  try  to  comprehend  aright  this  wondrous  whale,  by 
merely  poring  over  his  dead  attenuated  skeleton,  stretched  in 
this  peaceful  wood.  No.  Only  in  the  heart  of  quickest  perils ; 
only  when  within  the  eddyings  of  his  angry  flukes ;  only  on  the 
profound  unbounded  sea,  can  the  fully  invested  whale  be  truly 
and  livingly  found  out. 

But  the  spine.  For  that,  the  best  way  we  can  consider  it  is, 
with  a  crane,  to  pile  its  bones  high  up  on  end.  No  speedy 
enterprise.  But  now  it's  done,  it  looks  much  like  Pompey's 
Pillar. 

There  are  forty  and  odd  vertebrae  in  all,  which  in  the  skeleton 
are  not  locked  together.  They  mostly  lie  like  the  great  knob- 
bed blocks  on  a  Gothic  spire,  forming  solid  courses  of  heavy 
masonry.  The  largest,  a  middle  one,  is  in  width  something 
less  than  three  feet,  and  in  depth  more  than  four.  The  small- 
est, where  the  spine  tapers  away  into  the  tail,  is  only  two  inches 
in  width,  and  looks  something  like  a  white  billiard-ball.  I  was 
told  that  there  were  still  smaller  ones,  but  they  had  been  lost 
by  some  little  cannibal  urchins,  the  priest's  children,  who  had 
stolen  them  to  play  marbles  with.  Thus  we  see  how  that  the 
spine  of  even  the  hugest  of  living  things  tapers  off  at  last  into 
simple  child's  play. 


22 


506  THE    FOSSIL    WHALE 


CHAPTER  CIV. 

» 

THE    FOSSIL   WHALE. 

From  his  mighty  bulk  the  whale  affords  a  most  congenial  theme 
whereon  to  enlarge,  amplify,  and  generally  expatiate.  Would 
you,  you  could  not  compress  him.  By  good  rights  he  should 
only  be  treated  of  in  imperial  folio.  Not  to  tell  over  again  his 
furlongs  from  spiracle  to  tail,  and  the  yards  he  measures  about 
the  waist ;  only  think  of  the  gigantic  involutions  of  his  intestines, 
where  they  lie  in  him  like  great  cables  and  hausers  coiled  away 
in  the  subterranean  orlop-deck  of  a  line-of-battle-ship. 

Since  I  have  undertaken  to  manhandle  this  Leviathan,  it 
behoves  me  to  approve  myself  omnisciently  exhaustive  in  the 
enterprise ;  not  overlooking  the  minutest  seminal  germs  of  his 
blood,  and  spinning  him  out  to  the  uttermost  coil  of  his  bowels. 
Having  already  described  him  in  most  of  his  present  habitatory 
and  anatomical  peculiarities,  it  now  remains  to  magnify  him  in 
an  archaeological,  fossiliferous,  and  antediluvian  point  of  view. 
Applied  to  any  other  creature  than  the  Leviathan — to  an  ant 
or  a  flea — such  portly  terms  might  justly  be  deemed  unwar- 
rantably grandiloquent.  But  when  Leviathan  is  the  text,  the 
case  is  altered.  Fain  am  I  to  stagger  to  this  emprise  under  the 
weightiest  words  of  the  dictionary.  And  here  be  it  said,  that 
whenever  it  has  been  convenient  to  consult  one  in  the  course  of 
these  dissertations,  I  have  invariably  used  a  huge  quarto  edition 
of  Johnson,  expressly  purchased  for  that  purpose  ;  because  that 
famous  lexicographer's  uncommon  personal  bulk  more  fitted 
him  to  compile  a  lexicon  to  be  used  by  a  whale  author  like  me. 

One  often  hears  of  writers  that  rise  and  swell  with  their  sub- 
ject, though  it  may  seem  but  an  ordinary  one.     How,  then, 


THE    FOSSIL    WHALE.  507 

with  me,  writing  of  this  Leviathan  ?  Unconsciously  m}'  chiro- 
graphy  expands  into  placard  capitals.  Give  me  a  condor's  quill ! 
Give  me  Vesuvius'  crater  for  an  inkstand !  Friends,  hold  my 
arms !  For  in  the  mere  act  of  penning  my  thoughts  of  this 
Leviathan,  they  weary  me,  and  make  me  faint  with  their  out- 
reaching  comprehensiveness  of  sweep,  as  if  to  include  the 
whole  circle  of  the  sciences,  and  all  the  generations  of  whales, 
and  men,  and  mastodons,  past,  present,  and  to  come,  with  all 
the  revolving  panoramas  of  empire  on  earth,  and  throughout 
the  whole  universe,  not  excluding  its  suburbs.  Such,  and  so 
magnifying,  is  the  virtue  of  a  large  and  liberal  theme !  We 
expand  to  its  bulk.  To  produce  a  mighty  book,  you  must 
choose  a  mighty  theme.  No  great  and  enduring  volume  can 
ever  be  written  on  the  flea,  though  many  there  be  who  have  tried 
it. 

Ere  entering  upon  the  subject  of  Fossil  Whales,  I  present  my 
credentials  as  a  geologist,  by  stating  that  in  my  miscellaneous 
time  I  have  been  a  stone-mason,  and  also  a  great  digger  of" 
ditches,  canals  and  wells,  wine-vaults,  cellars,  and  cisterns  of  all 
sorts.  Likewise,  by  way  of  preliminary,  I  desire  to  remind  the 
reader,  that  while  in  the  earlier  geological  strata  there  are 
found  the  fossils  of  monsters  now  almost  completely  extinct ; 
the  subsequent  relics  discovered  in  what  are  called  the  Tertiary 
formations  seem  the  connecting,  or  at  any  rate  intercepted 
links,  between  the  anachronical  creatures,  and  those  whose 
remote  posterity  are  said  to  have  entered  the  Ark ;  all  the 
Fossil  Whales  hitherto  discovered  belong  to  the  Tertiary  period, 
which  is  the  last  preceding  the  superficial  formations.  And 
though  none  of  them  precisely  answer  to  any  known  species  of 
the  present  time,  they  are  yet  sufficiently  akin  to  them  in  general 
respects,  to  justify  their  taking  rank  as  Cetacean  fossils. 

Detached  broken  fossils  of  pre-adamite  whales,  fragments  of 
their  bones  and  skeletons,  have  within  thirty  years  past,  at 
various  intervals,  been  found  at  the  base  of  the  Alps,  in  Lom- 


508  THE    FOSSIL    WHALE. 

bardy,  in  France,  in  England,  in  Scotland,  and  in  the  States  of 
Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Alabama.  Among  the  more  curious 
of  such  remains  is  part  of  a  skull,  which  in  the  year  lWO  was 
disinterred  in  the  Rue  Dauphine  in  Paris,  a  short  street  open- 
ing almost  directly  upon  the  palace  of  the  Tuileries ;  and  bones 
disinterred  in  excavating  the  great  docks  of  Antwerp,  in  Napo- 
leon's time.  Cuvier  pronounced  these  fragments  to  have  belonged 
to  some  utterly  unknown  Leviathanic  species. 

But  by  far  the  most  wonderful  of  all  cetacean  relics  was  the 
almost  complete  vast  skeleton  of  an  extinct  monster,  found  in 
the  year  1842,  on  the  plantation  of  Judge  Creagh,  in  Alabama. 
The  awe-stricken  credulous  slaves  in  the  vicinity  took  it  for  the 
bones  of  one  of  the  fallen  angels.  The  Alabama  doctors 
declared  it  a  huge  reptile,  and  bestowed  upon  it  the  name  of 
Basilosaurus.  But  some  specimen  bones  of  it  being  taken 
across  the  sea  to  Owen,  the  English  Anatomist,  it  turned  out 
that  this  alleged  reptile  was  a  whale,  though  of  a  departed  species. 
A  significant  illustration  of  the  fact,  again  and  again  repeated 
in  this  book,  that  the  skeleton  of  the  whale  furnishes  but  little 
clue  to  the  shape  of  his  fully  invested  body.  So  Owen  re- 
christened  the  monster  Zeuglodon  ;  and  in  his  paper  read  before 
the  London  Geological  Society,  pronounced  it,  in  substance,  one 
of  the  most  extraordinary  creatures  which  the  mutations  of  the 
globe  have  blotted  out  of  existence. 

When  I  stand  among  these  mighty  Leviathan  skeletons, 
skulls,  tusks,  jaws,  ribs,  and  vertebrae,  all  characterized  by  partial 
resemblances  to  the  existing  breeds  of  sea- monsters ;  but  at  the 
same  time  bearing  on  the  other  hand  similar  affinities  to  the 
annihilated  anachronical  Leviathans,  their  incalculable  seniors ; 
I  am,  by  a  flood,  borne  back  to  that  wondrous  period,  ere  time 
itself  can  be  said  to  have  begun  ;  for  time  began  with  man. 
Here  Saturn's  grey  chaos  rolls  over  me,  and  I  obtain  dim,  shud- 
dering glimpses  into  those  Polar  eternities ;  when  wedged 
bastions  of  ice  pressed  hard  upon  what  are  now  the  Tropics ; 


THE    FOSSIL    WHALE.  509 

and  in  all  the  25,000  miles  of  this  world's  circumference,  not  an 
inhabitable  hand's  breadth  of  land  was  visible.  Then  the  whole 
world  was  the  whale's ;  and,  king  of  creation,  he  left  his  wake 
along  the  present  lines  of  the  Andes  and  the  Himmalehs.  Who 
can  show  a  pedigree  like  Leviathan  ?  Ahab's  harpoon  had  shed 
older  blood  than  the  Pharaoh's.  Methuselah  seems  a  school- 
boy. I  look  round  to  shake  hands  with  Shem.  I  am  horror- 
struck  at  this  antemosaic,  unsourced  existence  of  the  unspeakable 
terrors  of  the  whale,  which,  having  been  before  all  time,  must 
needs  exist  after  all  humane  ages  are  over. 

But  not  alone  has  this  Leviathan  left  his  pre-adamite  traces 
in  the  stereotype  plates  of  nature,  and  in  limestone  and  marl 
bequeathed  his  ancient  bust ;  but  upon  Egyptian  tablets,  whose 
antiquity  seems  to  claim  for  them  an  almost  fossiliferous  charac- 
ter, we  find  the  unmistakable  print  of  his  fin.  In  an  apartment 
of  the  great  temple  of  Denderah,  some  fifty  years  ago,  there  was 
discovered  upon  the  granite  ceiling  a  sculptured  and  painted 
planisphere,  abounding  in  centaurs,  griffins,  and  dolphins,  similar 
to  the  grotesque  figures  on  the  celestial  globe  of  the  moderns. 
Gliding  among  them,  old  Leviathan  swam  as  of  yore  ;  was  there 
swimming  in  that  planisphere,  centuries  before  Solomon  was 
cradled. 

Nor  must  there  be  omitted  another  strange  attestation  of  the 
antiquity  of  the  whale,  in  his  own  osseous  post-diluvian  reality, 
as  set  down  by  the  venerable  John  Leo,  the  old  Barbary  travel- 
ler. 

"  Not  far  from  the  Sea-side,  they  have  a  Temple,  the  Rafters 
and  Beams  of  which  are  made  of  Whale-Bones ;  for  Whales 
of  a  monstrous  size  are  oftentimes  cast  up  dead  upon  that  shore. 
The  Common  People  imagine,  that  by  a  secret  Power  bestowed 
by  God  upon  the  Temple,  no  Whale  can  pass  it  without  imme- 
diate death.  But  the  truth  of  the  Matter  is,  that  on  either  side 
of  the  Temple,  there  are  Rocks  that  shoot  two  Miles  into  the 
Sea,  and  wound  the  Whales  when  they  light  upon  'em.     They 


510  WILL    HE    PERISH? 


keep  a  Whale's  Rib  of  an  incredible  length  for  a  Miracle,  which 
lying  upon  the  Ground  with  its  convex  part  uppermost,  makes 
an  Arch,  the  Head  of  which  cannot  be  reached  by  a  Man  upon 
a  Camel's  Back.  This  Rib  (says  John  Leo)  is  said  to  have  layn 
there  a  hundred  Years  before  I  saw  it.  Their  Historians  affirm, 
that  a  Prophet  who  prophesy'd  of  Mahomet,  came  from  this 
Temple,  and  some  do  not  stand  to  assert,  that  the  Prophet 
Jonas  was  cast  forth  by  the  Whale  at  the  Base  of  the  Tem- 
ple." 

In  this  Afric  Temple  of  the  Whale  I  leave  you,  reader,  and 
if  you  be  a  Nantucketer,  and  a  whaleman,  you  will  silently  wor- 
ship there. 


CHAPTER  CV. 

DOES   THE    WHALE'S    MAGNITUDE    DIMINISH  ? — WILL   HE  PERISH  ? 

Inasmuch,  then,  as  this  Leviathan  comes  floundering  down 
upon  us  from  the  head-waters  of  the  Eternities,  it  may  be  fitly 
inquired,  whether,  in  the  long  course  of  his  generations,  he  has  not 
degenerated  from  the  original  bulk  of  his  sires. 

But  upon  investigation  we  find,  that  not  only  are  the  whales 
of  the  present  day  superior  in  magnitude  to  those  whose  fossil 
remains  are  found  in  the  Tertiary  system  (embracing  a  distinct 
geological  period  prior  to  man),  but  of  the  whales  found  in  that 
Tertiary  system,  those  belonging  to  its  latter  formations  exceed  in 
size  those  of  its  earlier  ones. 

Of  all  the  pre-adamite  whales  yet  exhumed,  by  far  the  largest 
is  the  Alabama  one  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter,  and  that  was 
less  than  seventy  feet  in  length  in  the  skeleton.  Whereas,  we 
have  already  seen,  that  the  tape-measure  gives  seventy-two  feet 
for  the  skeleton  of  a  large  sized  modern  whale.     And  I  have 


WILL    HE    PERISH?  511 

heard,  on  whalemen's  authority,  that  Sperm  Whales  have  been 
captured  near  a  hundred  feet  long  at  the  time  of  capture. 

But  may  it  not  be,  that  while  the  whales  of  the  present  hour 
are  an  advance  in  magnitude  upon  those  of  all  previous  geolo- 
gical periods ;  may  it  not  be,  that  since  Adam's  time  they  have 
degenerated  ? 

Assuredly,  we  must  conclude  so,  if  we  are  to  credit  the 
accounts  of  such  gentlemen  as  Pliny,  and  the  ancient  natural- 
ists generally.  For  Pliny  tells  us  of  whales  that  embraced  acres 
of  living  bulk,  and  Aldrovandus  of  others  which  measured  eight 
hundred  feet  in  length — Rope  Walks  and  Thames  Tunnels  of 
Whales !  And  even  in  the  days  of  Banks  and  Solander,  Cooke's 
naturalists,  we  find  a  Danish  member  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences 
setting  down  certain  Iceland  Whales  (reydan-siskur,  or  Wrink- 
led Bellies)  at  one  hundred  and  twenty  yards ;  that  is,  three 
hundred  and  sixty  feet.  And  Lacepede,  the  French  naturalist, 
in  his  elaborate  history  of  whales,  in  the  very  beginning  of  his 
work  (page  3),  sets  down  the  Right  Whale  at  one  hundred 
metres,  three  hundred  and  twenty-eight  feet.  And  this  work 
was  published  so  late  as  A.  D.  1825. 

But  will  any  whaleman  believe  these  stories?  JSTo.  The 
whale  of  to-day  is  as  big  as  his  ancestors  in  Pliny's  time.  And 
if  ever  I  go  where  Pliny  is,  I,  a  whaleman  (more  than  he  was), 
will  make  bold  to  tell  him  so.  Because  I  cannot  understand 
how  it  is,  that  while  the  Egyptian  mummies  that  were  buried 
thousands  of  years  before  even  Pliny  was  born,  do  not  measure 
so  much  in  their  coffins  as  a  modern  Kentuckian  in  his  socks  ; 
and  while  the  cattle  and  other  animals  sculptured  on  the  oldest 
Egyptian  and  Nineveh  tablets,  by  the  relative  proportions  in 
which  they  are  drawn,  just  as  plainly  prove  that  the  high-bred, 
stall-fed,  prize  cattle  of  Smithfield,  not  only  equal,  but  far  exceed 
in  magnitude  the  fattest  of  Pharaoh's  fat  kine ;  in  the  face  of 
all  this,  I  will  not  admit  that  of  all  animals  the  whale  alone 
should  have  degenerated. 


512  WILL    HE    PERISH? 

But  still  another  inquiry  remains  ;  one  often  agitated  by  the 
more  recondite  Nantucketers.  Whether  owing  to  the  almost 
omniscient  look-outs  at  the  mast-heads  of  the  whale-ships,  now 
penetrating  even  through  Behring's  straits,  and  into  the  remotest 
secret  drawers  and  lockers  of  the  world  ;  and  the  thousand  har- 
poons and  lances  darted  along*  all  continental  coasts  ;  the  moot 
point  is,  whether  Leviathan  can  long  endure  so  wide  a  chase, 
and  so  remorseless  a  havoc ;  whether  he  must  not  at  last  be 
exterminated  from  the  waters,  and  the  last  whale,  like  the  last 
man,  smoke  his  last  pipe,  and  then  himself  evaporate  in  the 
final  puff. 

Comparing  the  humped  herds  of  whales  with  the  humped 
herds  of  buffalo,  which,  not  forty  years  ago,  overspread  by  tens 
of  thousands  the  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,  and  shook 
their  iron  manes  and  scowled  with  their  thunder-clotted  brows 
upon  the  sites  of  populous  river-capitals,  where  now  the  polite 
broker  sells  you  land  at  a  dollar  an  inch ;  in  such  a  comparison 
an  irresistible  argument  would  seem  furnished,  to  show  that 
the  hunted  whale  cannot  now  escape  speedy  extinction. 

But  you  must  look  at  this  matter  in  every  light.  Though 
so  short  a  period  ago — not  a  good  life-time — the  census  of  the 
buffalo  in  Illinois  exceeded  the  census  of  men  now  in  London, 
and  though  at  the  present  day  not  one  horn  or  hoof  of  them 
remains  in  all  that  region ;  and  though  the  cause  of  this 
wondrous  extermination  was  the  spear  of  man ;  yet  the  far 
different  nature  of  the  whale-hunt  peremptorily  forbids  so 
inglorious  an  end  to  the  Leviathan.  Forty  men  in  one  ship 
hunting  the  Sperm  Whale  for  forty-eight  months  think  they 
have  done  extremely  well,  and  thank  God,  if  at  last  they  carry 
home  the  oil  of  forty  fish.  Whereas,  in  the  days  of  the  old 
Canadian  and  Indian  hunters  and  trappers  of  the  West,  when 
the  far  west  (in  whose  sunset  suns  still  rise)  was  a  wilderness 
and  a  virgin,  the  same  number  of  moccasined  men,  for  the 
tj.ime  number  of  months,  mounted  on  horse  instead  of  sailing 


WILL    HE    PERISH?  513 

in  ships,  would  have  slain  not  forty,  but  forty  thousand  and 
more  buffaloes ;  a  fact  that,  if  need  were,  could  be  statistically 
stated. 

Nor,  considered  aright,  does  it  seem  any  argument  in  favor 
of  the  gradual  extinction  of  the  Sperm  Whale,  for  example,  that 
in  former  years  (the  latter  part  of  the  last  century,  say)  these 
Leviathans,  in  small  pods,  were  encountered  much  oftener  than 
at  present,  and,  in  consequence,  the  voyages  were  not  so 
prolonged,  and  were  also  much  more  remunerative.  Because, 
as  has  been  elsewhere  noticed,  those  whales,  influenced  by 
some  views  to  safety,  now  swim  the  seas  in  immense  caravans, 
so  that  to  a  large  degree  the  scattered  solitaries,  yokes,  and 
pods,  and  schools  of  other  days  are  now  aggregated  into 
vast  but  widely  separated,  unfrequent  armies.  That  is  all. 
And  equally  fallacious  seems  the  conceit,  that  because  the 
so-called  whale-bone  whales  no  longer  haunt  many  grounds  in 
former  years  abounding  with  them,  hence  that  species  also 
is  declining.  For  they  are  only  being  driven  from  promontory 
to  cape ;  and  if  one  coast  is  no  longer  enlivened  with  their  jets, 
then,  be  sure,  some  other  and  remoter  strand  has  been  very 
recently  startled  by  the  unfamiliar  spectacle. 

Furthermore  :  concerning  these  last  mentioned  Leviathans, 
they  have  two  firm  fortresses,  which,  in  all  human  probability, 
will  for  ever  remain  impregnable.  And  as  upon  the  invasion 
of  their  valleys,  the  frosty  Swiss  have  retreated  to  their 
mountains ;  so,  hunted  from  the  savannas  and  glades  of  the 
middle  seas,  the  whale-bone  whales  can  at  last  resort  to  their 
Polar  citadels,  and  diving  under  the  ultimate  glassy  barriers 
and  walls  there,  come  up  among  icy  fields  and  floes ;  and  in  a 
charmed  circle  of  everlasting  December,  bid  defiance  to  all 
pursuit  from  man. 

But  as  perhaps  fifty  of  these  whale-bone  whales  are 
harpooned  for  one  cachalot,  some  philosophers  of  the  forecastle 
have   concluded   that   this   positive  havoc  has   already   very 

22* 


514  WILL    PIE    PERISH? 

seriously  diminished  their  battalions.  But  though  for  some 
time  past  a  number  of  these  whales,  not  less  than  13,000,  have 
been  annually  slain  on  the  nor'  west  coast  by  the  Americans 
alone ;  yet  there  are  considerations  which  render  even  this 
circumstance  of  little  or  no  account  as  an  opposing  argument 
in  this  matter. 

Natural  as  it  %  to  be  somewhat  incredulous  concerning  the 
populousness  of  j&e  more  enormous  creatures  of  the  globe, 
yet  what  shall  wej^fiy  to  Harto,  the  historian  of  Goa,  when  he 
tells  us  that  at;£>ae  hunting  the  King  of  Siam  took  4000 
elephants ;  that  in  those  regions  elephants  are  numerous  as  droves 
of  cattle  in  the  temperate  climes.  And  there  seems  no  reason 
to  doubt  that  if  these  elephants,  which  have  now  been  hunted 
for  thousands  of  years,  by  Semiramis,  by  Porus,  by  Hannibal, 
and  by  all  the  successive  monarchs  of  the  East — if  they  still 
survive  there  in  great  numbers,  much  more  may  the  great 
whale  outlast  all  hunting,  since  he  has  a  pasture  to  expatiate 
in,  which  is  precisely  twice  as  large  as  all  Asia,  both  Americas, 
Europe  a  d  Africa,  New  Holland,  and  all  the  Isles  of  the  sea 
combined. 

Moreover  :  we  are  to  consider,  that  from  the  presumed  great 
longevity  of  whales,  their  probably  attaining  the  age  of  a 
century  and  more,  therefore  at  any  one  period  of  time,  several 
distinct  adult  generations  must  be  contemporary.  And  what 
that  is,  we  may  soon  gain  some  idea  of,  by  imagining  all  the 
grave-yards,  cemeteries,  and  family  vaults  of  creation  yielding 
up  the  live  bodies  of  all  the  men,  women,  and  children  who 
were  alive  seventy-five  years  ago ;  and  adding  this  countless 
host  to  the  present  human  population  of  the  globe. 

Wherefore,  for  all  these  things,  we  account  the  whale 
immortal  in  his  species,  however  perishable  in  his  individuality. 
He  swam  the  seas  before  the  continents  broke  water  ;  he  once 
swam  over  the  site  of  the  Tuileries,  and  Windsor  Castle,  and 
the  Kremlin.     In  Noah's  flood  he  despised  Noah's  Ark  ;  and 


AHAB'SLEG.  515 


if  ever  the  world  is  to  be  again  flooded,  like  the  Netherlands, 
to  kill  off  its  rats,  then  the  eternal  whale  will  still  survive,  and 
rearing  upon  the  topmost  crest  of  the  equatorial  flood,  spout 
his  frothed  defiance  to  the  skies. 


CHAPTER   CVL 

ahab's  leg.  "'"% 

The  precipitating  manner  in  which  Captain  Ahab  had  quitted 
the  Samuel  Enderby  of  London,  had  not  been  unattended  with 
some  small  violence  to  his  own  person.  He  had  lighted  with 
such  energy  upon  a  thwart  of  his  boat  that  his  ivory  leg  had 
received  a  half-splintering  shock.  And  when  after  gaining  his 
own  deck,  and  his  own  pivot-hole  there,  he  so  vehemently 
wheeled  round  with  an  urgent  command  to  the  steersman  (it 
was,  as  ever,  something  about  his  not  steering  inflexibly 
enough)  ;  then,  the  already  shaken  ivory  received  such  an  addi- 
tional twist  and  wrench,  that  though  it  still  remained  entire,  and 
to  all  appearances  lusty,  yet  Ahab  did  not  deem  it  entirely 
trustworthy. 

And,  indeed,  it  seemed  small  matter  for  wonder,  that  for  all 
his  pervading,  mad  recklessness,  Ahab  did  at  times  give  careful 
heed  to  the  condition  of  that  dead  bone  upon  which  he  partly 
stood.  For  it  had  not  been  very  long  prior  to  the  Pequod's 
sailing  from  Nantucket,  that  he  had  been  found  one  night  lying 
prone  upon  the  ground,  and  insensible  ;  by  some  unknown,  and 
seemingly  inexplicable,  unimaginable  casualty,  his  ivory  limb 
having  been  so  violently  displaced,  that  it  had  stake-wise 
smitten,  and  all  but  pierced  his  groin ;  nor  was  it  without 
extreme  difficulty  that  the  agonizing  wound  was  entirely  cured. 

Nor,  at  the  time,  had  it  failed  to  enter  his  monomaniac  mind, 
that  all  the  anguish  of  that  then  present  suffering  was  but  the 


516  AHAB'S    LEG, 


direct  issue  of  a  former  woe ;  and  he  too  plainly  seemed  to  see, 
that  as  the  most  poisonous  reptile  of  the  marsh  perpetuates  his 
Lind  as  inevitably  as  the  sweetest  songster  of  the  grove ;  so, 
equally  with  every  felicity,  all  miserable  events  do  naturallv 
beget  their  like.  Yea,  more  than  equally,  thought  Ahab  ;  since 
hath  the  ancestry  and  posterity  of  Grief  go  further  than  the 
ancestry  and  posterity  of  Joy.  For,  not  to  hint  of  this  :  that  it 
is  an  inference  from  certain  canonic  teachings,  that  while  some 
natural  enjoyments  here  shall  have  no  children  born  to  them  fur 
the  other  world,  but,  on  the  contrary,  shall  be  followed  by  the 
joy-childlessness  of  all  hell's  despair  ;  whereas,  some  guilty  mor- 
tal miseries  shall  still  fertilely  beget  to  themselves  an  eternally 
progressive  progeny  of  griefs  beyond  the  grave  ;  not  at  all  to  hint 
of  this,  there  still  seems  an  inequality  in  the  deeper  analysis  of 
the  thing.  For,  thought  Ahab,  while  even  the  highest  earthly 
felicities  ever  have  a  certain  unsignifying  pettiness  lurking  in 
them,  but,  at  bottom,  all  heart-woes,  a  mystic  significance,  and, 
in  some  men,  an  archangelic  grandeur;  so  do  their  diligent 
tracings-out  not  belie  the  obvious  deduction.  To  trail  the 
genealogies  of  these  high  mortal  miseries,  carries  us  at  last 
among  the  sourceless  primogenitures  of  the  gods  ;  so  that,  in 
the  face  of  all  the  glad,  hay-making  suns,  and  soft-cymballing, 
round  harvest-moons,  we  must  needs  give  in  to  this  :  that  the 
gods  themselves  are  not  for  ever  glad.  The  ineffaceable,  sad 
birth-mark  in  the  brow  of  man,  is  but  the  stamp  of  sorrow  in 
the  signers. 

Unwittingly  here  a  secret  has  been  divulged,  which  perhaps 
might  more  properly,  in  set  way,  have  been  disclosed  before. 
With  many  other  particulars  concerning  Ahab,  always  had  it 
remained  a  mystery  to  some,  why  it  was,  that  for  a  certain 
period,  both  before  and  after  the  sailing  of  the  Pequod,  he  had 
hidden  himself  away  with  such  Grand-Lama-like  exclusiveness ; 
and,  for  that  one  interval,  sought  speechless  refuge,  as  it  were, 
among  the  marble  senate  of  the  dead.     Captain  Peleg's  bruited 


AHAB'S    LEG.  517 


reason  for  this  thing  appeared  by  no  means  adequate  ;  though, 
indeed,  as  touching  all  Ahab's  deeper  part,  every  revelation  par- 
took more  of  significant  darkness  than  of  explanatory  light. 
But,  in  the  end,  it  all  came  out ;  this  one  matter  did,  at  least. 
That  direful  mishap  was  at  the  bottom  of  his  temporary  recluse- 
ness.  And  not  only  this,  but  to  that  ever-contracting,  dropping 
circle  ashore,  who,  for  any  reason,  possessed  the  privilege  of  a 
less  banned  approach  to  him ;  to  that  timid  circle  the  above 
hinted  casualty — remaining,  as  it  did,  moodily  unaccounted  for 
by  Ahab — invested  itself  with  terrors,  not  entirely  underived 
from  the  land  of  spirits  and  of  wails.  So  that,  through  their 
zeal  for  him,  they  had  all  conspired,  so  far  as  in  them  lay,  to 
muffle  up  the  knowledge  of  this  thing  from  others ;  and  hence 
it  was,  that  not  till  a  considerable  interval  had  elapsed,  did  it 
transpire  upon  the  Pequod's  decks. 

But  be  all  this  as  it  may ;  let  the  unseen,  ambiguous  synod  in 
the  air,  or  the  vindictive  princes  and  potentates  of  fire,  have  to 
do  or  not  with  earthly  Ahab,  yet,  in  this  present  matter  of  his 
leg,  he  took  plain  practical  procedures ; — he  called  the 
carpenter. 

And  when  that  functionary  appeared  before  him,  he  bade 
him  without  delay  set  about  making  a  new  leg,  and  directed 
the  mates  to  see  him  supplied  with  all  the  studs  and  joists  of 
jaw-ivory  (Sperm  Whale)  which  had  thus  far  been  accumulated 
on  the  voyage,  in  order  that  a  careful  selection  of  the  stoutest, 
clearest-grained  stuff  might  be  secured.  This  done,  the  carpenter 
received  orders  to  have  the  leg  completed  that  night ;  and  to 
provide  all  the  fittings  for  it,  independent  of  those  pertaining  to 
the  distrusted  one  in  use.  Moreover,  the  ship's  forge  was 
ordered  to  be  hoisted  out  of  its  temporary  idleness  in  the  hold ; 
and,  to  accelerate  the  affair,  the  blacksmith  was  commanded  to 
proceed  at  once  to  the  forging  of  whatever  iron  contrivances 
might  be  needed. 


518  THE    CARPENTER. 


CHAPTER  CVII. 

THE    CARPENTER. 

Seat  thyself  sultanically  among  the  moons  of  Saturn,  and 
take  high  abstracted  man  alone  ;  and  he  seems  a  wonder,  a 
grandeur,  and  a  woe.  But  from  the  same  point,  take  mankind 
in  mass,  and  for  the  most  part,  they  seem  a  mob  of  unnecessary 
duplicates,  both  contemporary  and  hereditary.  But  most  hum- 
ble though  he  was,  and  far  from  furnishing  an  example  of  the 
high,  humane  abstraction ;  the  Pequod's  carpenter  was  no 
duplicate  ;  hence,  he  now  comes  in  person  on  this  stage. 

Like  all  sea-going  ship  carpenters,  and  more  especially  those 
belonging  to  whaling  vessels,  he  was,  to  a  certain  off-handed, 
practical  extent,  alike  experienced  in  numerous  trades  and  call- 
ings collateral  to  his  own ;  the  carpenter's  pursuit  being  the 
ancient  and  outbranching  trunk  of  all  those  numerous  handicrafts 
which  more  or  less  have  to  do  with  wood  as  an  auxiliary  mate- 
rial. But,  besides  the  application  to  him  of  the  generic  remark 
above,  this  carpenter  of  the.  Pequod  was  singularly  efficient  in 
those  thousand  nameless  mechanical  emergencies  continually 
recurring  in  a  large  ship,  upon  a  three  or  four  years'  voyage,  in 
uncivilized  and  far-distant  seas.  For  not  to  speak  of  his  readi- 
ness in  ordinary  duties : — repairing  stove  boats,  sprung  spars, 
reforming  the  shape  of  clumsy-bladed  oars,  inserting  bull's  eyes 
in  the  deck,  or  new  tree-nails  in  the  side  planks,  and  other 
miscellaneous  matters  more  directly  pertaining  to  his  special 
business  ;  he -was  moreover  unhesitatingly  expert  in  all  manner 
of  conflicting  aptitudes,  both  useful  and  capricious. 

The  one  grand  stage  where  he  enacted  all  his  various  parts 
so  manifold,  was  his  vice-bench ;  a  long  rude  ponderous  table 
furnished  with  several  vices,  of  different  sizes,  and  both  of  iron 


THE    CARPENTER.  519 

and  of  wood.  At  all  times  except  when  whales  were  alongside, 
this  bench  was  securely  lashed  athwartships  against  the  rear  of 
the  Try-works. 

A  belaying  pin  is  found  too  large  to  be  easily  inserted  into 
its  hole  :  the  carpenter  claps  it  into  one  of  his  ever-ready  vices, 
and  straightway  files  it  smaller.  A  lost  land-bird  of  strange 
plumage  strays  on  board,  and  is  made  a  captive  :  out  of  clean 
shaved  rods  of  right-whale  bone,  and  cross-beams  of  sperm 
whale  ivory,  the  carpenter  makes  a  pagoda-looking  cage  for  it. 
An  oarsman  sprains  his  wrist :  the  carpenter  concocts  a  soothing 
lotion.  Stubb  longed  for  vermillion  stars  to  be  painted  upon  the 
blade  of  his  every  oar  ;  screwing  each  oar  in  his  big  vice  of  wood, 
the  carpenter  symmetrically  supplies  the  constellation.  A  sailor 
takes  a  fancy  to  wear  shark-bone  ear-rings  :  the  carpenter  drills 
his  ears.  Another  has  the  toothache  :  the  carpenter  out  pincers, 
and  clapping  one  hand  upon  his  bench  bids  him  be  seated  there  ; 
but  the  poor  fellow  unmanageably  winces  under  the  unconcluded 
operation  ;  whirling  round  the  handle  of  his  wooden  vice,  the 
carpenter  signs  him  to  clap  his  jaw  in  that,  if  he  would  have 
him  draw  the  tooth. 

Thus,  this  carpenter  was  prepared  at  all  points,  and  alike  in- 
different and  without  respect  in  all.  Teeth  he  accounted  bits 
of  ivory  ;  heads  he  deemed  but  top-blocks  ;  men  themselves  he 
lightly  held  for  capstans.  But  while  now  upon  so  wide  a  field 
thus  variously  accomplished,  and  with  such  liveliness  of  expert- 
ness  in  him,  too ;  all  this  would  seem  to  argue  some  uncommon 
vivacity  of  intelligence.  But  not  precisely  so.  For  nothing  was 
this  man  more  remarkable,  than  for  a  certain  impersonal  stolidity 
as  it  were  ;  impersonal,  I  say ;  for  it  so  shaded  off  into  the  sur- 
rounding infinite  of  things,  that  it  seemed  one  with  the  general 
stolidity  discernible  in  the  whole  visible  world ;  which  while 
pauselessly  active  in  uncounted  modes,  still  eternally  holds  its 
peace,  and  ignores  you,  though  you  dig  foundations  for  cathe- 
drals.   Yet  was  this  half-horrible  stolidity  in  him,  involving,  too, 


520  THE    CARPENTER. 

as  it  appeared,  an  all-ramifying  heartlessness  ; — yet  was  it  oddly 
dashed  at  times,  with,  an  old,  crutch-like,  antediluvian,  wheezing 
humorousness,  not  unstreaked  now  and  then  with  a  certain 
grizzled  wittiness  ;  such  as  might  have  served  to  pass  the  time 
during  the  midnight  watch  on  the  bearded  forecastle  of  Noah's 
ark.  Was  it  that  this  old  carpenter  had  been  a  life-long  wan- 
derer, whose  much  rolling,  to  and  fro,  not  only  had  gathered 
no  moss  ;  but  what  is  more,  had  rubbed  off  whatever  small 
outward  clingings  might  have  originally  pertained  to  him  ? 
He  was  a  stript  abstract ;  an  unfractioned  integral ;  uncompro- 
mised  as  a  new-born  babe  ;  living  without  premeditated  reference 
to  this  world  or  the  next.  You  might  almost  say,  that  this 
strange  uncompromisedness  in  him  involved  a  sort  of  unintelli- 
gence  ;  for  in  his  numerous  trades,  he  did  not  seem  to  work  so 
much  by  reason  or  by  instinct,  or  simply  because  he  had  been 
tutored  to  it,  or  by  any  intermixture  of  all  these,  even  or  uneven  ; 
but  merely  by  a  kind  of  deaf  and  dumb,  spontaneous  literal 
process.  He  was  a  pure  manipulator  ;  his  brain,  if  he  had  ever 
had  one,  must  have  early  oozed  along  into  the  muscles  of  his 
fingers.  He  was  like  one  of  those  unreasoning  but  still  highly 
useful,  multum  m  parvo,  Sheffield  contrivances,  assuming  the 
exterior — though  a  little  swelled — of  a  common  pocket  knife  ; 
but  containing,  not  only  blades  of  various  sizes,  but  also  screw- 
drivers, cork-screws,  tweezers,  awls,  pens,  rulers,  nail-filers,  coun- 
tersinkers.  So,  if  his  superiors  wanted  to  use  the  carpenter  for 
a  screw-driver,  all  they  had  to  do  was  to  open  that  part  of 
him,  and  the  screw  was  fast :  or  if  for  tweezers,  take  him  up  by 
the  legs,  and  there  they  were. 

Yet,  as  previously  hinted,  this  omnitooled,  open-and-shut 
carpenter,  was,  after  all,  no  mere  machine  of  an  automaton.  If 
he  did  not  have  a  common  soul  in  him,  he  had  a  subtle  some- 
thing that  somehow  anomalously  did  its  duty.  What  that  was, 
whether  essence  of  quicksilver,  or  a  few  drops  of  hartshorn,  there 
is  no  telling.     But  there  it  was  ;  and  there  it  had  abided  for 


AHAB    AND    THE    CARPENTER.  521 


now  some  sixty  years  or  more.  And  this  it  was,  this  same 
unaccountable,  cunning  life-principle  in  him  ;  this  it  was,  that 
kept  him  a  great  part  of  the  time  soliloquizing  ;  but  only  like 
an  unreasoning  wheel,  which  also  hummingly  soliloquizes ;  or 
rather,  his  body  was  a  sentry-box  and  this  soliloquizer  on  guard 
there,  and  talking  all  the  time  to  keep  himself  awake. 


CHAPTER  CVIII. 

AHAB    AND    THE    CARPENTER. 
THE   DECK FIRST    NIGHT    WATCH. 

{Carpenter  standing  before  his  vice-bench,  and  by  the  light  of 
two  lanterns  busily  filing  the  ivory  joist  for  the  leg,  which 
joist  is  firmly  fixed  in  the  vice.  Slabs  of  ivory,  leather 
straps,  pads,  screws,  and  various  tools  of  all  sorts  lying 
about  the  bench.  Forward,  the  red  flame  of  the  forge  is 
seen,  where  the  blacksmith  is  at  work.) 

Drat  the  file,  and  drat  the  bone !  That  is  hard  which  should 
be  soft,  and  that  is  soft  which  should  be  hard.  So  we  go,  who 
file  old  jaws  and  shinbones.  Let's  tiy  another.  Aye,  now, 
this  works  better  {sneezes).  Halloa,  this  bone  dust  is  {sneezes) 
— why  it's  {sneezes) — yes  it's  {sneezes) — bless  my  soul,  it  won't 
let  me  speak  !  This  is  what  an  old  fellow  gets  now  for  working 
in  dead  lumber.  Saw  a.  live  tree,  and  you  don't  get  this  dust ; 
amputate  a  live  bone,  and  you  don't  get  it  {sneezes).  Come, 
come,  you  old  Smut,  there,  bear  a  hand,  and  let's  have  that 
ferule  and  buckle-screw ;  I'll-  be  ready  for  them  presently. 
Lucky  now  {sneezes)  there's  no  knee-joint  to  make ;  that  might 
puzzle  a  little  ;  but  a  mere  shinbone — why  it's  easy  as  making 
hop-poles ;  only  I  should  like  to  put  a  good  finish  on.  Time, 
time ;  if  I  but  only  had  the  time,  I  coiild  turn  him  out  as  neat 


522  AHAB    AND    THE    CARPENTER. 

a  leg  now  as  ever  (sneezes)  scraped  to  a  lady  in  a  parlor.  Those 
buckskin  legs  and  calves  of  legs  I've  seen  in  shop  windows 
wouldn't  compare  at  all.  They  soak  water,  they  do ;  and  of' 
course  get  rheumatic,  and  have  to  be  doctored  (sneezes)  with 
washes  and  lotions,  just  like  live  legs.  There ;  before  I  saw  it 
off,  now,  I  must  call  his  old  Mogulship,  and  see  whether  the 
length  will  be  all  right ;  too  short,  if  anything,  I  guess.  Ha  ! 
that's  the  heel ;  we  are  in  luck ;  here  he  comes,  or  it's  some- 
body else,  that's  certain. 

Ahab  (advancing). 
\    (JDuring  the  ensuing  scene,  the  carpenter  continues  sneezing  at 
■)£  times.) 

Well,  manmaker ! 

Just  in  time,  sir.  If  the  captain  pleases,  I  will  now  mark  the 
length.     Let  me  measure,  sir. 

Measured  for  a  leg !  good.  Well,  it's  not  the  first  time. 
About  it !  There ;  keep  thy  finger  on  it.  This  is  a  cogent 
vice  thou  hast  here,  carpenter  ;  let  me  feel  its  grip  once.  So, 
so ;  it  does  pinch  some. 

Oh,  sir,  it  will  break  bones — beware,  beware  ! 

No  fear ;  I  like  a  good  grip  ;  I  like  to  feel  something  in  this 
slippery  world  that  can  hold,  man.  What's  Prometheus  about 
there  ? — the  blacksmith,  I  mean — what's  he  about  ? 

He  must  be  forging  the  buckle-screw,  sir,  now. 

Eight.  It's  a  partnership ;  he  supplies  the  muscle  part. 
He  makes  a  fierce  red  flame  there ! 

Aye,  sir ;  he  must  have  the  white  heat  for  this  kind  of  fine 
work. 

Um-m.  So  he  must.  I  do  deem  it  now  a  most  meaning 
thing,  that  that  old  Greek,  Prometheus,  who  made  men,  they 
say,  should  have  been  a  blacksmith,  and  animated  them  with 
fire;  for  what's  made  in  fire  must  properly  belong  to  fire; 
and  so  hell's  probable.  How  the  soot  flies  !  This  must  be  the 
remainder  the  Greek  made  the  Africans  of.     Carpenter,  when 


AHAB    AND    THE    CARPENTER.  523 

he's  through  with  that  buckle,  tell  him  to  forge  a  pair  of  steel 
shoulder-blades  ;  there's  a  pedlar  aboard  with  a  crushing  pack. 

Sir? 

Hold;  while  Prometheus  is  about  it,  I'll  order  a  complete 
man  after  a  desirable  pattern.  Imprimis,  fifty  feet  high  in  his 
socks ;  then,  chest  modelled  after  tbe  Thames  Tunnel ;  then, 
legs  with  roots  to  'em,  to  stay  in  one  place ;  then,  arms  three 
feet  through  the  wrist;  no  heart  at  all,  brass  forehead,  and 
about  a  quarter  of  an  acre  of  fine  brains  ;  and  let  me  see — shall 
I  order  eyes  to  see  outwards  %  No,  but  put  a  sky-light  on  top 
of  his  head  to  illuminate  inwards.  There,  take  the  order,  and 
away. 

Now,  what's  he  speaking  about,  and  who's  he  speaking  to,  I 
should  like  to  know  ?     Shall  I  keep  standing  here  ?  (aside.) 

'Tis  but  indifferent  architecture  to  make  a  blind  dome  ;  here's 
one.     No,  no,  no ;  I  must  have  a  lantern. 

Ho,  ho  !  That's  it,  hey  ?  Here  are  two,  sir ;  one  will  serve 
my  turn. 

What  art  thou  thrusting  that  thief-catcher  into  my  face  for, 
man  ?     Thrusted  light  is  worse  than  presented  pistols. 

I  thought,  sir,  that  you  spoke  to  carpenter. 

Carpenter  ?  why  that's — but  no  ; — a  very  tidy,  and,  I  may 
say,  an  extremely  gentlemanlike  sort  of  business  thou  art  in  here, 
carpenter ; — or  would'st  thou  rather  work  in  clay  ? 

Sir  ? — Clay  ?  clay,  sir  ?  That's  mud  ;  we  leave  clay  to 
ditchers,  sir. 

The  fellow's  impious !     "What  art  thou  sneezing  about  ? 

Bone  is  rather  dusty,  sir. 

Take  the  hint,  then ;  and  when  thou  art  dead,  never  bury 
thyself  under  living  people's  noses. 

Sir  ? — oh  !  ah  ! — I  guess  so ; — yes — oh,  dear  ! 

Look  ye,  carpenter,  I  dare  say  thou  callest  thyself  a  right 
good  workmanlike  workman,  eh  ?  Well,  then,  will  it  speak 
thoroughly  well  for  thy  work,  if,  when  I  come  to  mount  this  leg 


524  AHAB    AND    THE    CARPENTER. 

thou  makest,  I  shall  nevertheless  feel  another  leg  in  the  same 
identical  place  with  it ;  that  is,  carpenter,  my  old  lost  leg ;  the 
flesh  and  blood  one,  I  mean.  Canst  thou  not  drive  that  old 
Adam  away  ? 

Truly,  sir,  I  begin  to  understand  somewhat  now.  Yes,  I 
have  heard  something  curious  on  that  score,  sir ;  how  that  a 
dismasted  man  never  entirely  loses  the  feeling  of  his  old  spar, 
but  it  will  be  still  pricking  him  at  times.  May  I  humbly  ask 
if  it  be  really  so,  sir  ? 

It  is,  man.  Look,  put  thy  live  leg  here  in  the  place  where 
mine  once  was ;  so,  now,  here  is  only  one  distinct  leg  to  the  eye, 
yet  two  to  the  soul.  Where  thou  feelest  tingling  life ;  there, 
exactly  there,  there  to  a  hair,  do  I.     Is't  a  riddle  ? 

I  should  humbly  call  it  a  poser,  sir. 

Hist,  then.  How  dost  thou  know  that  some  entire,  living, 
thinking  thing  may  not  be  invisibly  and  uninterpenetratingly 
standing  precisely  where  thou  now  standest;  aye,  and  standing 
there  in  thy  spite  ?  In  thy  most  solitary  hours,  then,  dost  thou 
not  fear  eavesdroppers  ?  Hold,  don't  speak !  And  if  I  still 
feel  the  smart  of  my  crushed  leg,  though  it  be  now  so  long  dis-. 
solved ;  then,  why  mayst  not  thou,  carpenter,  feel  the  fiery  pains  / 
of  hell  for  ever,  and  without  a  body  ?     Hah ! 

Good  Lord !  Truly,  sir,  if  it  comes  to  that,  I  must  calculate 
over  again  ;  I  think  I  didn't  carry  a  small  figure,  sir. 

Look  ye,  pudding-heads  should  never  grant  premises. — How 
long  before  the  leg  is  done  ? 

Perhaps  an  hour,  sir. 

Bungle  away  at  it  then,  and  bring  it  to  me  {turns  to  go). 
Oh,  Life !  Here  I  am,  proud  as  Greek  god,  and  yet  standing 
debtor  to  this  blockhead  for  a  bone  to  stand  on  !  Cursed  be 
that  mortal  inter-indebtedness  which  will  not  do  away  with 
ledgers.  I  would  be  free  as  air ;  and  I'm  down  in  the  whole 
world's  books.  I  am  so  rich,  I  could  have  given  bid  for  bid 
with  the  wealthiest  Praetorians  at  the  auction  of  the  Roman 


AHAB    AND    THE    CARPENTER.  525 

empire  (which  was  the  world's) ;  and  yet  I  owe  for  the  flesh 
in  the  tongue  I  brag  with.  By  heavens  !  I'll  get  a  crucible,  and 
into  it,  and  dissolve  myself  down  to  one  small,  compendious 
vertebra.     So. 

carpenter  {resuming  Ms  work). 

Well,  well,  well !  Stubb  knows  him  best  of  all,  and  Stubb 
always  says  he's  queer ;  says  nothing  but  that  one  sufficient 
little  word  queer ;  he's  queer,  says  Stubb ;  he's  queer — queer, 
queer ;  and  keeps  dinning  it  into  Mr.  Starbuck  all  the  time — queer, 
sir — queer,  queer,  very  queer.  And  here's  his  leg !  Yes,  uow 
that  I  think  of  it,  here's  his  bedfellow !  has  a  stick  of  whale's 
jaw-bone  for  a  wife  !  And  this  is  his  leg ;  he'll  stand  on  this. 
What  was  that  now  about  one  leg  standing  in  three  places,  and 
all  three  places  standing  in  one  hell — how  was  that  ?  Oh  !  I 
don't  wonder  he  looked  so  scornful  at  me  !  I'm  a  sort  of 
strange-thoughted  sometimes,  they  say ;  but  that's  only  hap- 
hazard-like. Then,  a  short,  little  old  body  like  me,  should 
never  undertake  to  wade  out  into  deep  waters  with  tall,  heron- 
built  captains ;  the  water  chucks  you  under  the  chin  pretty 
quick,  and  there's  a  great  cry  for  life-boats.  And  here's  the 
heron's  leg !  long  and  slim,  sure  enough  !  Now,  for  most  folks 
one  pair  of  legs  lasts  a  lifetime,  and  that  must  be  because  they 
use  them  mercifully,  as  a  tender-hearted  old  lady  uses  her  roly- 
poly  old  coach-horses.  But  Ahab ;  oh  he's  a  hard  driver. 
Look,  driven  one  leg  to  death,  and  spavined  the  other  for  life, 
and  now  wears  out  bone  legs  by  the  cord.  Halloa,  there,  you 
Smut !  bear  a  hand  there  with  those  screws,  and  let's  finish  it 
before  the  resurrection  fellow  comes  a-calling  with  his  horn  for 
all  legs,  true  or  false,  as  brewery-men  go  round  collecting  old 
beer  barrels,  to  fill  'em  up  again.  What  a  leg  this  is!  It 
looks  like  a  real  live  leg,  filed  down  to  nothing  but  the  core ; 
he'll  be  standing  on  this  to-morrow  ;  he'll  be  taking  altitudes 
on  it.     Halloa  !  I  almost  forgot  the  little  oval  slate,  smoothed 


526   AHAB  AND  STARBUCK  IN  THE  CABIN. 

ivory,  where  lie  figures  up  the  latitude.     So,  so ;  chisel,  file,  and 
sand-paper,  now ! 


CHAPTER  CIX. 

AHAB    AND    STARBUCK   IK   THE    CABIN. 

According  to  usage  they  were  pumping  the  ship  next 
morning ;  and  lo !  no  inconsiderable  oil  came  up  with  the  water ; 
the  casks  below  must  have  sprung  a  bad  leak.  Much  concern 
was  shown ;  and  Starbuck  went  down  into  the  cabin  to  report 
this  unfavorable  affair.* 

N/ow,  from  the  South  and  West  the  Pequod  was  drawing 
nigh  to  Formosa  and  the  Bashee  Isles,  between  which  lies  one 
of  the  tropical  outlets  from  the  China  waters  into  the  Pacific. 
And  so  Starbuck  found  Ahab  with  a  general  chart  of  the 
oriental  archipelagoes  spread  before  him ;  and  another  separate 
one  representing  the  long  eastern  coasts  of  the  Japanese  islands — 
Niphon,  Matsmai,  and  Sikoke.  With  his  snow-white  new 
ivory  leg  braced  against  the  screwed  leg  of  his  table,  and  with 
a  long  pruning-hook  of  a  jack-knife  in  his  hand,  the  wondrous 
old  man,  with  his  back  to  the  gangway  door,  was  wrinkling  his 
brow,  and  tracing  his  old  courses  again. 

"  Who's  there  ?"  hearing  the  footstep  at  the  door,  but  not 
turning  round  to  it.     "  On  deck !     Begone  !" 

"  Captain  Ahab  mistakes ;  it  is  I.  The  oil  in  the  hold  is 
leaking,  sir.     We  must  up  Burtons  and  break  out." 

*  In  Sperm-whalemen  with  any  considerable  quantity  of  oil  on  board, 
it  is  a  regular  semi-weekly  duty  to  conduct  a  hose  into  the  hold,  and 
drench  the  casks  with  sea-water ;  which  afterwards,  at  varying  intervals, 
is  removed  by  the  ship's  pumps.  Hereby  the  casks  are  sought  to  bo 
kept  damply  tight ;  while  by  the  changed  character  of  the  withdrawn 
water,  the  mariners  readily  detect  any  serious  leakage  in  the  precious 
cargo. 


AHAB  AND  STARBUCK  IN  THE  CABIN.    527 

"  Up  Burtons  and  break  out  ?  Now  that  jve  are  nearirtg 
Japan  ;  heave-to  here  for  a  week  to  tinker  a  parcel  of  old  hoops  ?" 

"  Either  do  that,  sir,  or  waste  in  one  day  more  oil  than  we 
may  make  good  in  a  year.  What  we  come  twenty  thousand 
miles  to  get  is  worth  saving,  sir." 

"  So  it  is,  so  it  is ;  if  we  get  it." 

"  I  was  speaking  of  the  oil  in  the  hold,  sir." 

"  And  I  was  not  speaking  or  thinking  of  that  at  all.  Be- 
gone !  Let  it  leak !  I'm  all  aleak  myself.  Aye  !  leaks  in 
leaks !  not  only  full  of  leaky  casks,  but  those  leaky  casks  are  in 
a  leaky  ship  ;  and  that's  a  far  worse  plight  than  the  Pequod's, 
man.  Yet  I  don't  stop  to  plug  my  leak  ;  for  who  can  find  it  in 
the  deep-loaded  hull ;  or  how  hope  to  plug  it,  even  if  found,  in 
this  life's  howling  gale  ?  Starbuck !  I'll  not  have  the  Burtons 
hoisted." 

"  What  will  the  owners  say,  sir  ?" 

"  Let  the  owners  stand  on  Nantucket  beach  and  outyell  the 
Typhoons.  What  cai^es  Ahab  ?  Owners,  owners  ?  Thou  art 
always  prating  to  me,  Starbuck,  about  those  miserly  owners,  as 
if  the  owners  were  my  conscience.  But  look  ye,  the  only  real 
owner  of  anything  is  its  commander ;  and  hark  ye,  my  con- 
science is  in  this  ship's  keel. — On  deck  !" 

"  Captain  Ahab,''  said  the  reddening  mate,  moving  further 
into  the  cabin,  with  a  daring  so  strangely  respectful  and  cautious 
that  it  almost  seemed  not  only  every  way  seeking  to  avoid  the 
slightest  outward  manifestation  of  itself,  but  within  also  seemed 
more  than  half  distrustful  of  itself;  "  A  better  man  than  I  might 
well  pass  over  in  thee  what  he  would  quickly  enough  resent  in  a 
younger  man ;  aye,  and  in  a  happier,  Captain  Ahab." 

"  Devils  !  Dost  thou  then  so  much  as  dare  to  critically  think 
of  me  ?— On  deck  !" 

"  Nay,  sir,  not  yet ;  I  do  entreat.  And  I  do  dare,  sir — to  be 
forbearing !  Shall  we  not  understand  each  other  better  than 
hitherto,  Captain  Ahab  ?" 


528    AHAB   AND  STARBUCK   IN   THE   CABIN. 

Ahab  seized  a  loaded  musket  from  the  rack  (forming  part  of 
most  South-Sea-men's  cabin  furniture),  and  pointing  it  towards 
Starbuck,  exclaimed :  "  There  is  one  God  that  is  Lord  over  the 
earth,  and  one  Captain  that  is  lord  over  the  Pequod. — On 
deck !" 

For  an  instant  in  the  flashing  eyes  of  the  mate,  and  his  fiery 
cheeks,  you  would  have  almost  thought  that  he  had  really 
received  the  blaze  of  the  levelled  tube.  But,  mastering  his 
emotion,  he  half  calmly  rose,  and  as  he  quitted  the  cabin,  paused 
for  an  instant  and  said:  "Thou  hast  outraged,  not  insulted 
me,  sir ;  but  for  that  I  ask  thee  not  to  beware  of  Starbuck  ;  thou 
wouldst  but  laugh ;  but  let  Ahab  beware  of  Ahab ;  beware 
of  thyself,  old  man." 

"  He  waxes  brave,  but  nevertheless  obeys ;  most  careful 
bravery  that !"  murmured  Ahab,  as  Starbuck  disappeared. 
"  What's  that  he  said — Ahab  beware  of  Ahab — there's  some- 
thing there  !"  Then  unconsciously  using  the  musket  for  a  staff, 
with  an  iron  brow  he  paced  to  and  fro  in  the  little  cabin  ;  but 
presently  the  thick  plaits  of  his  forehead  relaxed,  and  returning 
the  gun  to  the  rack,  he  went  to  the  deck. 

"  Thou  art  but  too  good  a  fellow,  Starbuck,"  he  said  lowly 
to  the  mate ;  then  raising  his  voice  to  the  crew  :  "  Furl  the 
t'gallant-sails,  and  close-reef  the  top-sails,  fore  and  aft ;  back  the 
main-yard ;  up  Burtons,  and  break  out  in  the  main-hold." 

It  were  perhaps  vain  to  surmise  exactly  why  it  was,  that  as 
respecting  Starbuck,  Ahab  thus  acted.  It  may  have  been  a 
flash  of  honesty  in  him ;  or  mere  prudential  policy  which,  under 
the  circumstance,  imperiously  forbade  the  slightest  symptom  of 
open  disaffection,  however  transient,  in  the  important  chief  officer 
of  his  ship.  However  it  was,  his  orders  were  executed ;  and  the 
Burtons  were  hoisted. 


QUEEQUEG    IN    HIS    COFFIN.  521) 


CHAPTER  CX. 

QUEEQUEG    IN    HIS    COFFIN.  i 

Upon  searching,  it  was  found  that  the  casks  last  struck  into 
the  hold  were  perfectly  sound,  and  that  the  leak  must  be  further 
off.  So,  it  being  calm  weather,  they  broke  out  deeper  and 
deeper,  disturbing  the  slumbers  of  the  huge  ground-tier  butts ; 
and  from  that  black  midnight  sending  those  gigantic  moles  into 
the  daylight  above.  So  deep  did  they  go ;  and  so  ancient,  and 
corroded,  and  weedy  the  aspect  of  the  lowermost  puncheons, 
that  you  almost  looked  next  for  some  mouldy  corner-stone  cask 
containing  coins  of  Captain  Noah,  with  copies  of  the  posted 
placards,  vainly  warning  the  infatuated  old  world  from  the  flood. 
Tierce  after  tierce,  too,  of  water,  and  bread,  and  beef,  and  shooks 
of  staves,  and  iron  bundles  of  hoops,  were  hoisted  out,  till  at 
last  the  piled  decks  were  hard  to  get  about ;  and  the  hollow 
hull  echoed  under  foot,  as  if  you  were  treacling  over  empty 
catacombs,  and  reeled  and  rolled  in  the  sea  like  an  air-freighted 
demijohn.  Top-heavy  was  the  ship  as  a  dinnerless  student  with 
all  Aristotle  in  his  head.  Well  was  it  that  the  Typhoons  did 
not  visit  them  then. 

Now,  at  this  time  it  was  that  my  poor  pagan  companion,  and 
fast  bosom-friend,  Queequeg,  was  seized  with  a  fever,  which 
brought  him  nigh  to  his  endless  end. 

Be  it  said,  that  in  this  vocation  of  whaling,  sinecures  are  un- 
known ;  dignity  and  danger  go  hand  in*  hand  ;  till  you  get  to 
be  Captain,  the  higher  you  rise  the  harder  you  toil.  So  with 
poor  Queequeg,  who,  as  harpooneer,  must  not  only  face  all  the 
rage  of  the  living  whale,  but — as  we  have  elsewhere  seen — mount 
his  dead  back  in  a  rolling  sea ;  and  finally  descend  into  the  gloom 

23 


530  QUEEQUEG    IN    HIS    COFFIN. 

of  the  hold,  and  bitterly  sweating  all  day  in  that  subterraneous 
confinement,  resolutely  manhandle  the  clumsiest  casks  and  see  to 
their  stowage.  To  be  short,  among  whalemen,  the  harpooneers 
are  the  holders,  so  called. 

Poor  Queequeg !  when  the  ship  was  about  half  disembowelled, 
you  should  have  stooped  over  the  hatchway,  and  peered  down 
upon  him  there ;  where,  stripped  to  his  woollen  drawers,  the  tat- 
tooed savage  was  crawling  about  amid  that  dampness  and  slime, 
like  a  green  spotted  lizard  at  the  bottom  of  a  well.  And  a  well, 
or  an  ice-house,  it  somehow  proved  to  him,  poor  pagan ;  where, 
strange  to  say,  for  all  the  heat  of  his  sweatings,  he  caught  a  ter- 
rible chill  which  lapsed  into  a  fever ;  and  at  last,  after  some 
days'  suffering,  laid  him  in  his  hammock,  close  to  the  very  sill  of 
the  door  of  death.  How  he  wasted  and  wasted  away  in  those 
few  long-lingering  days,  till  there  seemed  but  little  left  of  him 
but  his  frame  and  tattooing.  But  as  all  else  in  him  thinned,  and 
his  cheek-bones  grew  sharper,  his  eyes,  nevertheless,  seemed 
growing  fuller  and  fuller ;  they  became  of  a  strange  softness  of 
lustre  ;  and  mildly  but  deeply  looked  out  at  you  there  from  his 
sickness,  a  wondrous  testimony  to  that  immortal  health  in 
him  which  could  not  die,  or  be  weakened.  And  like  circles  on 
the  water,  which,  as  they  grow  fainter,  expand ;  so  his  eyes 
seemed  rounding  and  rounding,  like  the  rings  of  Eternity.  An 
awe  that  cannot  be  named  would  steal  over  you  as  you  sat  by 
the  side  of  this  waning  savage,  and  saw  as  strange  things  in  his 
face,  as  any  beheld  who  were  bystanders  when  Zoroaster  died. 
For  whatever  is  truly  wondrous  and  fearful  in  man,  never  yet 
was  put  into  words  or  books.  And  the  drawing  near  of  Death, 
which  alike  levels  all,  alike  impresses  all  with  a  last  revelation, 
which  only  an  author  from  the  dead  could  adequately  tell.  So 
that — let  us  say  it  again — no  dying  Chaldee  or  Greek  had  higher 
and  holier  thoughts  than  those,  whose  mysterious  shades  you 
saw  creeping  over  the  face  of  poor  Queequeg,  as  he  quietly  lay 
in  his  swaying  hammock,  and  the  rolling  sea  seemed  gently 


QUEEQUEG    IN    HIS    COFFIN.  531 

rocking  him  to  his  final  rest,  and  the  ocean's  invisible  flood-tide 
lifted  him  higher  and  higher  towards  his  destined  heaven. 

Not  a  man  of  the  crew  but  gave  him  up ;  and,  as  for  Quee- 
queg  himself,  what  he  thought  of  his  case  was  forcibly  shown 
by  a  curious  favor  he  asked.  He  called  one  to  him  in  the  grey 
morning  watch,  when  the  day  was  just  breaking,  and  taking  his 
hand,  said  that  while  in  Nantucket  he  had  chanced  to  see  cer- 
tain little  canoes  of  dark  wood,  like  the  rich  war-wood  of  his 
native  isle  ;  and  upon  inquiry,  he  had  learned  that  all  whale- 
men who  died  in  Nantucket,  were  laid  in  those  same  dark 
canoes,  and  that  the  fancy  of  being  so  laid  had  much  pleased 
him ;  for  it  was  not  unlike  the  custom  of  his  own  race,  who, 
after  embalming  a  dead  warrior,  stretched  him  out  in  his  canoe, 
and  so  left  him  to  be  floated  away  to  the  starry  archipelagoes  ; 
for  not  only  do  they  believe  that  the  stare  are  isles,  but  that  far 
beyond  all  visible  horizons,  their  own  mild,  uncontinented  seas, 
interflow  with  the  blue  heavens ;  and  so  form  the  white  breakers 
of  the  milky  way.  He  added,  that  he  shuddered  at  the  thought 
of  being  buried  in  his  hammock,  according  to  the  usual  sea-cus- 
tom, tossed  like  something  vile  to  the  death-devouring  sharks. 
No :  he  desired  a  canoe  like  those  of  Nantucket,  all  the  more 
congenial  to  him,  being  a  whaleman,  that  like  a  whale-boat 
these  coffin-canoes  were  without  a  keel ;  though  that  involved 
but   uncertain  steering,   and  much   lee-way  adown  the  dim 


Now,  when  this  strange  circumstance  was  made  known  aft,  the 
carpenter  was  at  once  commanded  to  do  Queequeg's  bidding, 
whatever  it  might  include.  There  was  some  heathenish,  coffin- 
colored  old  lumber  aboard,  which,  upon  a  long  previous  voyage, 
had  been  cut  from  the  aboriginal  groves  of  the  Lackaday  islands, 
and  from  these  dark  planks  the  coffin  was  recommended  to  be 
made.  No  sooner  was  the  carpenter  apprised  of  the  order,  than 
taking  his  rule,  he  forthwith  with  all  the  indifferent  promptitude 
of  his  character,  proceeded  into  the  forecastle  and  took  Quee- 


532  QUEEQUEG    IN    HIS    COFFIN. 

queg's  measure  with  great  accuracy,  regularly  chalking  Quee- 
queg's  person  as  he  shifted  the  rule. 

"  Ah !  poor  fellow !  he'll  have  to  die  now,"  ejaculated  the 
Long  Island  sailor. 

Going  to  his  vice-bench,  the  carpenter  for  convenience  sake 
and  general  reference,  now  transferringly  measured  on  it  the 
exact  length  the  coffin  was  to  be,  and  then  made  the  transfer 
permanent  by  cutting  two  notches  at  its  extremities.  This  done, 
he  marshalled  the  planks  and  his  tools,  and  to  work. 

When  the  last  nail  was  driven,  and  the  lid  duly  planed  and 
fitted,  he  lightly  shouldered  the  coffin  and  went  forward  with  it, 
inquiring  whether  they  were  ready  for  it  yet  in  that  direction. 

Overhearing  the  indignant  but  half-humorous  cries  with 
which  the  people  on  deck  began  to  drive  the  coffin  away, 
Queequeg,  to  every  one's  consternation,  commanded  that  the 
thing  should  be  instantly  brought  to  him,  nor  was  there  any 
denying  him ;  seeing  that,  of  all  mortals,  some  dying  men  are 
the  most  tyrannical ;  and  certainly,  since  they  will  shortly  trouble 
us  so  little  for  evermore,  the  poor  fellows  ought  to  be  indulged. 

Leaning  over  in  his  hammock,  Queequeg  long  regarded  the 
coffin  with  an  attentive  eye.  He  then  called  for  his  harpoon, 
had  the  wooden  stock  drawn  from  it,  and  then  had  the  iron  part 
placed  in  the  coffin  along  with  one  of  the  paddles  of  his  boat. 
All  by  his  own  request,  also,  biscuits  were  then  ranged  round 
the  sides  within :  a  flask  of  fresh  water  was  placed  at  the  head, 
and  a  small  bag  of  woody  earth  scraped  up  in  the  hold  at  the 
foot;  and  a  piece  of  sail-cloth  being  rolled  up  for  a  pillow, 
Queequeg  now  entreated  to  be  lifted  into  his  .final  bed,  that  he 
might  make  trial  of  its  comforts,  if  any  it  had.  He  lay  without 
moving  a  few  minutes,  then  told  one  to  go  to  his  bag  and  bring 
out  his  little  god,  Yojo.  Then  crossing  his  arms  on  his  breast 
with  Yojo  between,  he  called  for  the  coffin  lid  (hatch  he  called 
it)  to  be  placed  over  him.  The  head  part  turned  over  with  a 
leather  hinge,  and  there  lay  Queequeg  in  his  coffin  with  little 


QUEEQUEG    IN    HIS    COFFIN.  533 

but  his  composed  countenance  in  view.  "  Rarmai  "  (it  will  do  ; 
it  is  easy),  he  murmured  at  last,  and  signed  to  be  replaced  in 
his  hammock. 

But  ere  this  was  done,  Pip,  who  had  been  slily  hovering 
near  by  all  this  while,  drew  nigh  to  him  where  he  lay,  and  with 
soft  sobbings,  took  him  by  the  hand ;  in  the  other,  holding  his 
tambourine. 

"  Poor  rover !  will  ye  never  have  done  with  all  this  weary 
roving  ?  where  go  ye  now  ?  But  if  the  currents  carry  ye  to 
those  sweet  Antilles  where  the  beaches  are  only  beat  with 
water-lilies,  will  ye  do  one  little  errand  for  me  ?  Seek  out  one 
Pip,  who's  now  been  missing  long :  I  think  he's  in  those  far 
Antilles.  If  ye  find  him,  then  comfort  him ;  for  he  must  be 
very  sad  ;  for  look  !  he's  left  his  tambourine  behind ; — I  found  it. 
Rig-a-dig,  dig,  dig  !  Now,  Queequeg,  die ;  and  I'll  beat  ye  your 
dying  march." 

"I  have  heard,''  murmured  Starbuck,  gazing  down  the  scuttle, 
"  that  in  violent  fevers,  men,  all  ignorance,  have  talked  in  ancient 
tongues ;  and  that  when  the  mystery  is  probed,  it  turns  out 
always  that  in  their  wholly  forgotten  childhood  those  ancient 
tongues  had  been  really  spoken  in  their  hearing  by  some  lofty 
scholars.  So,  to  my  fond  faith,  poor  Pip,  in  this  strange 
sweetness  of  his  lunacy,  brings  heavenly  vouchers  of  all  our 
heavenly  homes.  Where  learned  he  that,  but  there  ? — Hark  ! 
he  speaks  again :  but  more  wildly  now." 

"  Form  two  and  two  !  Let's  make  a  General  of  him  !  Ho, 
where's  his  harpoon  ?  Lay  it  across  here. — Rig-a-dig,  dig,  dig  ! 
huzza !  Oh  for  a  game  cock  now  to  sit  upon  his  head  and  crow  ! 
Queequeg  dies  game  ! — mind  ye  that ;  Queequeg  dies  game  ! — 
take  ye  good  heed  of  that ;  Queequeg  dies  game  !  I  say ;  game, 
game,  game !  but  base  little  Pip,  he  died  a  coward ;  died  all 
a'shiver  ; — out  upon  Pip  !  Hark  ye ;  if  ye  find  Pip,  tell  all  the 
Antilles  he's  a  runaway ;  a  coward,  a  coward,  a  coward !  Tell 
them  he  jumped  from   a  whale-boat !     I'd  never  beat  my 


534  QUEEQUEG    IN    HIS    COFFIN. 

tambourine  over  base  Pip,  and  bail  him  General,  if  be  were 
once  more  dying  here.  No,  no !  shame  upon  all  cowards — 
shame  upon  them !  Let  'em  go  drown  bke  Pip,  that  jumped 
from  a  whale-boat.     Shame !  shame !" 

During  all  this,  Queequeg  lay  with  closed  eyes,  as  if  in  a 
dream.  Pip  was  led  away,  and  the  sick  man  was  replaced  in 
his  hammock. 

But  now  that  he  had  apparently  made  every  preparation  for 
death ;  now  that  his  coffin  was  proved  a  good  fit,  Queequeg 
suddenly  rallied ;  soon  there  seemed  no  need  of  the  carpenter's 
box :  and  thereupon,  when  some  expressed  their  delighted  sur- 
prise, he,  in  substance,  said,  that  the  cause  of  his  sudden 
convalescence  was  this; — at  a  critical  moment,  he  had  just 
recalled  a  little  duty  ashore,  which  he  was  leaving  undone ;  and 
therefore  had  changed  his  mind  about  dying :  he  could  not  die 
yet,  he  averred.  They  asked  him,  then,  whether  to  five  or  die 
was  a  matter  of  his  own  sovereign  will  and  pleasure.  He 
answered,  certainly.  In  a  word,  it  was  Queequeg's  conceit, 
that  if  a  man  made  up  his  mind  to  live,  mere  sickness  could  not 
kill  him :  nothing  but  a  whale,  or  a  gale,  or  some  violent, 
ungovernable,  unintelligent  destroyer  of  that  sort. 

Now,  there  is  this  noteworthy  difference  between  savage  and 
civilized ;  that  while  a  sick,  civilized  man  may  be  six  months 
convalescing,  generally  speaking,  a  sick  savage  is  almost  half- 
well  again  in  a  day.  So,  in  good  time  my  Queequeg  gained 
strength ;  and  at  length  after  sitting  on  the  windlass  for  a  few 
indolent  days  (but  eating  with  a  vigorous  appetite)  he  suddenly 
leaped  to  his  feet,  threw  out  arms  and  legs,  gave  himself  a  good 
stretching,  yawned  a  little  bit,  and  then  springing  into  the  head 
of  his  hoisted  boat,  and  poising  a  harpoon,  pronounced  himself 
fit  for  a  fight. 

With  a  wild  whimsiness,  he  now  used  his  coffin  for  a  sea- 
chest  ;  and  emptying  into  it  his  canvas  bag  of  clothes,  set  them 
in  order  there.     Many  spare  hours  he  spent,  in  carving  the  lid 


THE    PACIFIC.  535 


with  all  manner  of  grotesque  figures  and  drawings ;  and  it 
seemed  that  hereby  he  was  striving,  in  his  rude  way,  to  copy 
parts  of  the  twisted  tattooing  on  his  body.  And  this  tattooing, 
had  been  the  work  of  a  departed  prophet  and  seer  of  his  island, 
who,  by  those  hieroglyphic  marks,  had  written  out  on  his  body 
a  complete  theory  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  a  mystical 
treatise  on  the  art  of  attaining  truth ;  so  that  Queequeg  in  his 
own  proper  person  was  a  riddle  to  unfold ;  a  wondrous  work  in 
one  volume ;  but  whose  mysteries  not  even  himself  could  read, 
though  his  own  live  heart  beat  against  them ;  and  these  myste- 
ries were  therefore  destined  in  the  end  to  moulder  away  with 
the  living  parchment  whereon  they  were  inscribed,  and  so  be 
unsolved  to  the  last.  And  this  thought  it  must  have  been 
which  suggested  to  Abab  that  wild  exclamation  of  his,  when 
one  morning  turning  away  from  surveying  poor  Queequeg — 
"  Oh,  devilish  tantalization  of  the  gods !" 


CHAPTER  CXI. 

THE    PACIFIC. 

When  gliding  by  the  Bashee  isles  we  emerged  at  last  upon 
the  great  "South  Sea;  were  it  not  for  other  things,  I  could 
have  greeted  my  dear  Pacific  with  uncounted  thanks,  for  now 
the  long  supplication  of  my  youth  was  answered  ;  that  serene 
ocean  rolled  eastwards  from  me  a  thousand  leagues  of  blue. 

There  is,  one  knows  not  what  sweet  mystery  about  this  sea, 
whose  gently  awful  stirrings  seem  to  speak  of  some  hidden  soul 
beneath ;  like  those  fabled  undulations  of  the  Ephesian  sod 
over  the  buried  Evangelist  St.  John.  And  meet  it  is,  that  over 
these  sea-pastures,  wide-rolling  watery  prairies  and  Potters' 
Fields  of  all  four  continents,  the  waves  should  rise  and  fall,  and 


536  THE    PACIFIC. 


ebb  and  flow  unceasingly ;  for  here,  millions  of  mixed  shades 
and  shadows,  drowned  dreams,  somnambulisms,  reveries  ;  all 
that  we  call  lives  and  souls,  lie  dreaming,  dreaming,  still; 
tossing  like  slumberers  in  their  beds ;  the  ever-rolling  waves 
but  made  so  by  their  restlessness. 

To  any  meditative  Magian  rover,  this  serene  Pacific,  once 
beheld,  must  ever  after  be  the  sea  of  his  adoption.  It  rolls  the 
midmost  waters  of  the  world,  the  Indian  ocean  and  Atlantic 
being  but  its  arms.  The  same  waves  wash  the  moles  of  the 
new-built  Californian  towns,  but  yesterday  planted  by  the 
recentest  race  of  men,  and  lave  the  faded  but  still  gorgeous 
skirts  of  Asiatic  lands,  older  than  Abraham;  while  all 
between  float  milky-ways  of  coral  isles,  and  low-lying,  endless, 
unknown  Archipelagoes,  and  impenetrable  Japans.  Thus  this 
mysterious,  divine  Pacific  zones  the  world's  whole  bulk  about ; 
makes  all  coasts  one  bay  to  it ;  seems  the  tide-beating  heart  of 
earth.  Lifted  by  those  eternal  swells,  you  needs  must  own  the 
seductive  god,  bowing  your  head  to  Pan. 

But  few  thoughts  of  Pan  stirred  Ahab's  brain,  as  standing 
like  an  iron  statue  at  his  accustomed  place  beside  the  mizen 
rigging,  with  one  nostril  he  unthinkingly  snuffed  the  sugary 
musk  from  the  Bashee  isles  (in  whose  sweet  woods  mild  lovers 
must  be  walking),  and  with  the  other  consciously  inhaled  the 
salt  breath  of  the  new  found  sea ;  that  sea  in  which  the  hated 
White  Whale  must  even  then  be  swimming.  Launched  at 
length  upon  these  almost  final  waters,  and  gliding  towards  the 
Japanese  cruising-ground,  the  old  man's  purpose  intensified 
itself.  His  firm  lips  met  like  the  lips  of  a  vice ;  the  Delta  of 
his  forehead's  veins  swelled  like  overladen  brooks ;  in  his  very 
sleep,  his  ringing  cry  ran  through  the  vaulted  hull,  "Stern 
all  1  the  White  Whale  spouts  thick  blood !" 


THE    BLACKSMITH..  537 


CHAPTER  CXH. 

THE    BLACKSMITH. 

Availing  himself  of  the  mild,  summer-cool  -weather  that 
now  reigned  in  these  latitudes,  and  in  preparation  for  the 
peculiarly  active  pursuits  shortly  to  be  anticipated,  Perth,  the 
begrimed,  blistered  old  blacksmith,  had  not  removed  his 
portable  forge  to  the  hold  again,  after  concluding  his  contribu- 
tory work  for  Ahab's  leg,  but  still  retained  it  on  deck,  fast 
lashed  to  ringbolts  by  the  foremast ;  being  now  almost  inces- 
santly invoked  by  the  headsmen,  and  harpooneers,  and  bowsmen 
to  do  some  little  job  for  them ;  altering,  or  repairing,  or  new 
shaping  their  various  weapons  and  boat  furniture.  Often  he 
would  be  surrounded  by  an  eager  circle,  all  waiting  to  be 
sei'ved ;  holding  boat-spades,  pike-heads,  harpoons,  and  lances, 
and  jealously  watching  his  every  sooty  movement,  as  he  toiled. 
Nevertheless,  this  old  man's  was  a  patient  hammer  wielded  by 
a  patient  arm.  No  murmur,  no  impatience,  no  petulence  did 
come  from  him.  Silent,  slow,  and  solemn  ;  bowing  over  still 
further  his  chronically  broken  back,  he  toiled  away,  as  if  toil 
were  life  itself,  and  the  heavy  beating  of  his  hammer  the 
heavy  beating  of  his  heart.     And  so  it  was. — Most  miserable  ! 

A  peculiar  walk  in  this  old  man,  a  certain  slight  but  painful 
appearing  yawing  in  his  gait,  had  at  an  early  period  of  the 
voyage  excited  the  curiosity  of  the  mariners.  And  to  the 
importunity  of  their  persisted  questionings  he  had  finally  given 
in ;  and  so  it  came  to  pass  that  every  one  now  knew  the  shame- 
ful story  of  his  wretched  fate. 

Belated,  and  not  innocently,  one  bitter  winter's  midnight,  on 
the  road  running  between  two  countiy  towns,  the  blacksmith 


538  THE    BLACKSMITH. 

half-stupidly  felt  the  deadly  numbness  stealing  over  him,  and 
sought  refuge  in  a  leaning,  dilapidated  barn.  The  issue  was, 
the  loss  of  the  extremities  of  both  feet.  Out  of  this  revelation, 
part  by  part,  at  last  came  out  the  four  acts  of  the  gladness,  and 
the  one  long,  and  as  yet  uncatastrophied  fifth  act  of  the  grief 
of  his  life's  drama. 

He  was  an  old  man,  who,  at  the  age  of  nearly  sixty,  had 
postponedly  encountered  that  thing  in  sorrow's  technicals 
called  ruin.  He  had  been  an  artisan  of  famed  excellence,  and 
with  plenty  to  do ;  owned  a  house  and  garden ;  embraced  a 
youthful,  daughter-like,  loving  wife,  and  three  blithe,  ruddy 
children ;  every  Sunday  went  to  a  cheerful-looking  church, 
planted  in  a  grove.  But  one  night,  under  cover  of  darkness, 
and  further  concealed  in  a  most  cunning  disguisement,  a 
desperate  burglar  slid  into  his  happy  home,  and  robbed  them 
all  of  everything.  And  darker  yet  to  tell,  the  blacksmith  him- 
self did  iguorantly  conduct  this  burglar  into  his  family's  heart. 
It  was  the  Bottle  Conjuror  !  Upon  the  opening  of  that  fatal 
cork,  forth  flew  the  fiend,  and  shrivelled  up  his  home.  Now, 
for  prudent,  most  wise,  and  economic  reasons,  the  blacksmith's 
shop  was  in  the  basement  of  his  dwelling,  but  with  a  separate 
entrance  to  it ;  so  that  always  had  the  young  and  loving 
healthy  wife  listened  with  no  unhappy  nervousness,  but  with 
vigorous  pleasure,  to  the  stout  ringing  of  her  young-armed 
old  husband's  hammer  ;  whose  reverberations,  muffled  by  passing 
through  the  floors  and  walls,  came  up  to  her,  not  unsweetly,  in 
her  nursery ;  and  so,  to  stout  Labor's  iron  lullaby,  the  black- 
smith's infants  were  rocked  to  slumber. 

Oh,  woe  on  woe  !  Oh,  Death,  why  canst  thou  not  some- 
times be  timely  ?  Hadst  thou  taken  this  old  blacksmith  to 
thyself  ere  his  full  ruin  came  upon  him,  then  had  the  young 
widow  had  a  delicious  grief,  and  her  orphans  a  truly  venerable, 
legendary  sire  to  dream  of  in  their  after  years  ;  and  all  of  them 
a  care-killing   competency.    But  Death  plucked  down   some 


THE    BLACKSMITH.  539 

virtuous  elder  brother,  on  whose  whistling  daily  toil  solely  hung 
the  responsibilities  of  some  other  family,  and  left  the  worse 
than  useless  old  man  standing,  till  the  hideous  rot  of  life  should 
make  him  easier  to  harvest. 

Why  tell  the  whole  ?  The  blows  of  the  basement  hammer 
every  day  grew  more  and  more  between ;  and  each  blow 
every  day  grew  fainter  than  the  last ;  the  wife  sat  frozen  at  the 
window,  with  tearless  eyes,  glitteringly  gazing  into  the  weeping 
faces  of  her  children ;  the  bellows  fell ;  the  forge  choked  up 
with  cinders  ;  the  house  was  sold  ;  the  mother  dived  down  into 
the  long  church-yard  grass ;  her  children  twice  followed  her 
thither ;  and  the  houseless,  familyless  old  man  staggered  off  a 
vagabond  in  crape ;  his  every  woe  unreverenced ;  his  grey 
head  a  scorn  to  flaxen  curls ! 

Death  seems  the  only  desirable  sequel  for  a  career  like  this  ; 
but  Death  is  only  a  launching  into  the  region  of  the  strange 
Untried ;  it  is  but  the  first  salutation  to  the  possibilities  of  the 
immense  Remote,  the  Wild,  the  Watery,  the  Unshored ;  there- 
fore, to  the  death-longing  eyes  of  such  men,  who  still  have  left 
in  them  some  interior  compunctions  against  suicide,  does  the 
all-contributed  and  all-receptive  ocean  alluringly  spread  forth 
his  whole  plain  of  unimaginable,  taking  terrors,  and  wonderful, 
new-life  adventures  ;  and  from  the  hearts  of  infinite  Pacifies, 
the  thousand  mermaids  sing  to  them — "  Come  hither,  broken- 
hearted ;  here  is  another  life  without  the  guilt  of  intermediate 
death  ;  here  are  wonders  supernatural,  without  dying  for  them. 
Come  hither !  bury  thyself  in  a  life  which,  to  your  now  equally 
abhorred  and  abhorring,  landed  world,  is  more  oblivious  than 
death.  Come  hither  !  put  up  thy  grave-stone,  too,  within  the 
churchyard,  and  come  hither,  till  we  marry  thee  !" 

Hearkening  to  these  voices,  East  and  West,  by  early  sun-rise, 
and  by  fall  of  eve,  the  blacksmith's  soul  responded,  Aye,  I 
come  !     And  so  Perth  went  a-whaling. 


540  THE    FORGE. 


CHAPTER  CXni. 

THE    FORGE. 

With  matted  beard,  and  swathed  in  a  bristling  shark-skin 
apron,  about  mid-day,  Perth  was  standing  between  his  forge 
and  anvil,  the  latter  placed  upon  an  iron-wood  log,  with  one 
hand  holding  a  pike-head  in  the  coals,  and  with  the  other  at  his 
forge's  lungs,  when  Captain  Ahab  came  along,  carrying  in  his 
hand  a  small  rusty-looking  leathern  bag.  "While  yet  a  little 
distance  from  the  forge,  moody  Ahab  paused ;  till  at  last,  Perth, 
withdrawing  his  iron  from  the  fire,  began  hammering  it  upon 
the  anvil — the  red  mass  sending  off  the  sparks  in  thick  hover- 
ing flights,  some  of  which  flew  close  to  Ahab. 

"  Are  these  thy  Mother  Carey's  chickens,  Perth  ?  they  are 
always  flying  in  thy  wake  ;  birds  of  good  omen,  too,  but  not  to 
all ; — look  here,  they  burn  ;  but  thou — thou  liv'st  among  them 
without  a  scorch." 

"  Because  I  am  scorched  all  over,  Captain  Ahab,"  answered 
Perth,  resting  for  a  moment  on  his  hammer ;  "  I  am  past 
scorching ;  not  easily  can'st  thou  scorch  a  scar." 

"  Well,  well ;  no  more.  Thy  shrunk  voice  sounds  too  calmly, 
sanely  woful  to  me.  In  no  Paradise  myself,  I  am  impatient  of 
all  misery  in  others  that  is  not  mad.  Thou  should'st  go  mad, 
blacksmith  ;  say,  why  dost  thou  not  go  mad  ?  How  can'st  thou 
endure  without  being  mad  ?  Do  the  heavens  yet  hate  thee, 
that  thou  can'st  not  go  mad  ? — What  wert  thou  making  there  ?" 

"  Welding  an  old  pike-head,  sir  ;  there  were  seams  and  dents 
in  it." 

"  And  can'st  thou  make  it  all  smooth  again,  blacksmith,  after 
such  hard  usage  as  it  had  V 


THE    FORGE.  541 


"  I  think  so,  sir.'' 

"  And  I  suppose  thou  can'st  smoothe  almost  any  seams  and 
dents  ;  never  mind  how  hard  the  metal,  blacksmith  ?" 

"  Aye,  sir,  I  think  I  can ;  all  seams  and  dents  but  one." 

"  Look  ye  here,  then,"  cried  Ahab,  passionately  advancing, 
and  leaning  with  both  hands  on  Perth's  shoulders  ;  "  look  ye 
here — here — can  ye  smoothe  out  a  seam  like  this,  blacksmith," 
sweeping  one  hand  across  his  ribbed  brow ;  "if  thou  could 'st, 
blacksmith,  glad  enough  would  I  lay  my  head  upon  thy  anvil, 
and  feel  thy  heaviest  hammer  between  my  eyes.  Answer ! 
Can'st  thou  smoothe  this  seam  ?" 

"  Oh !  that  is  the  one,  sir !  Said  I  not  all  seams  and  dents 
but  one  ?" 

"  Aye,  blacksmith,  it  is  the  one ;  aye,  man,  it  is  unsmooth- 
able  ;  for  though  thou  only  see'st  it  here  in  my  flesh,  it  has 
worked  down  into  the  bone  of  my  skull — that  is  all  wrinkles  ! 
But,  away  with  child's  play ;  no  more  gaffs  and  pikes  to-day. 
Look  ye  here !"  jingling  the  leathern  bag,  as  if  it  were  full  of 
gold  coins.  "  I,  too,  want  a  harpoon  made  ;  one  that  a  thou- 
sand yoke  of  fiends  could  not  part,  Perth  ;  something  that  will 
stick  in  a  whale  like  his  own  fin-bone.  There's  the  stuff,"  fling- 
ing the  pouch  upon  the  anvil.  "  Look  ye,  blacksmith,  these 
are  the  gathered  nail-stubbs  of  the  steel  shoes  of  racing  horses." 

"Horse-shoe  stubbs,  sir?  Why,  Captain  Ahab,  thou  hast 
here,  then,  the  best  and  stubbornest  stuff  we  blacksmiths  ever 
work." 

"  I  know  it,  old  man  ;  these  stubbs  will  weld  together  like 
glue  from  the  melted  bones  of  murderers.  Quick !  forge  me 
the  harpoon.  And  forge  me  first,  twelve  rods  for  its  shank ; 
then  wind,  and  twist,  and  hammer  these  twelve  together  like 
the  yarns  and  strands  of  a  tow-line.  Quick!  I'll  blow  the 
fire." 

When  at  last  the  twelve  rods  were  made,  Ahab  tried  them, 
one  by  one,  by  spiralling  them,  with  his  own  hand,  round  a 


542  THEFORGE 


long,  heavy  iron  bolt.  "A  flaw!"  rejecting  the  last  one. 
"  Work  that  over  again,  Perth." 

This  done,  Perth  was  about  to  begin  welding  the  twelve  into 
one,  when  Ahab  stayed  his  hand,  and  said  he  would  weld  his 
own  iron.  As,  then,  with  regular,  gasping  hems,  he  hammered 
on  the  anvil,  Perth  passing  to  him  the  glowing  rods,  one  after 
the  other,  and  the  hard  pressed  forge  shooting  up  its  intense 
straight  flame,  the  Parsee  passed  silently,  and  bowing  over  his 
head  towards  the  fire,  seemed  invoking  some  curse  or  some 
blessing  on  the  toil.     But,  as  Ahab  looked  up,  he  slid  aside. 

"What's  that  bunch  of  lucifers  dodging  about  there  for?" 
muttered  Stubb,  looking  on  from  the  forecastle.  "  That  Parsee 
smells  fire  like  a  fusee ;  and  smells  of  it  himself,  like  a  hot 
musket's  powder-pan." 

At  last  the  shank,  in  one  complete  rod,  received  its  final  heat ; 
and  as  Perth,  to  temper  it,  plunged  it  all  hissing  into  the  cask 
of  water  near  by,  the  scalding  steam  shot  up  into  Ahab's  bent 
face. 

"  Would'st  thou  brand  me,  Perth  ?"  wincing  for  a  moment 
with  the  pain ;  "  have  I  been  but  forging  my  own  branding- 
iron,  then?" 

"  Pray  God,  not  that ;  yet  I  fear  something,  Captain  Ahab. 
Is  not  this  harpoon  for  the  White  Whale  ?" 

"  For  the  white  fiend !  But  now  for  the  barbs ;  thou  must 
make  them  thyself,  man.  Here  are  my  razors — the  best  of 
steel ;  here,  and  make  the  barbs  sharp  as  the  needle-sleet  of  the 
Icy  Sea." 

For  a  moment,  the  old  blacksmith  eyed  the  razors  as  though 
he  would  fain  not  use  them. 

"  Take  them,  man,  I  have  no  need  for  them ;  for  I  now 
neither  shave,  sup,  nor  pray  till but  here — to  work  !" 

Fashioned  at  last  into  an  arrowy  shape,  and  welded  by  Perth 
to  the  shank,  the  steel  soon  pointed  the  end  of  the  iron ;  and 
as  the  blacksmith  was  about  giving  the  barbs  their  final  heat, 


THE    FORGE.  543 


prior  to  tempering  them,  he  cried  to  Ahab  to  place  the  water- 
cask  near. 

"  No,  no — no  water  for  that ;  I  want  it  of  the  true  death- 
temper.  Ahoy,  there !  Tashtego,  Queequeg,  Daggoo  !  What 
say  ye,  pagans !  "Will  ye  give  me  as  much  blood  as  will  cover 
this  barb  ?"  holding  it  high  up.  A  cluster  of  dark  nods  replied, 
Yes.  Three  punctures  were  made  in  the  heathen  flesh,  and  the 
White  Whale's  barbs  were  then  tempered. 

"  Ego  non  baptizo  te  in  nomine  patris,  sed  in  nomine 
diaboli !"  deliriously  howled  Ahab,  as  the  malignant  iron 
scorchingly  devoured  the  baptismal  blood. 

Now,  mustering  the  spare  poles  from  below,  and  selecting  one 
of  hickory,  with  the  bark  still  investing  it,  Ahab  fitted  the  end 
to  the  socket  of  the  iron.  A  coil  of  new  tow-line  was  then 
unwound,  and  some  fathoms  of  it  taken  to  the  windlass,  and 
stretched  to  a  great  tension.  Pressing  his  foot  upon  it,  till  the 
rope  hummed  like  a  harp-string,  then  eagerly  bending  over  it, 
and  seeing  no  strandings,  Ahab  exclaimed,  "  Good !  and  now 
for  the  seizings." 

At  one  extremity  the  rope  was  unstranded,  and  the  separate 
spread  yarns  were  all  braided  and  woven  round  the  socket  of 
the  harpoon  ;  the  pole  was  then  driven  hard  up  into  the  socket ; 
from  the  lower  end  the  rope  was  traced  half  way  along  the  pole's 
length,  and  firmly  secured  so,  with  intertwistings  of  twine.  This 
done,  pole,  iron,  and  rope — like  the  Three  Fates — remained 
inseparable,  and  Ahab  moodily  stalked  away  with  the  weapon ; 
the  sound  of  his  ivory  leg,  and  the  sound  of  the  hickory  pole, 
both  hollowly  ringing  along  every  plank.  But  ere  he  entered 
his  cabin,  a  light,  unnatural,  half-bantering,  yet  most  piteous 
sound  was  heard.  Oh,  Pip !  thy  wretched  laugh,  thy  idle  but 
unresting  eye ;  all  thy  strange  mummeries  not  unmeaningly 
blended  with  the  black  tragedy  of  the  melancholy  ship,  and 
mocked  it ! 


544  THE    GILDER. 


CHAPTER  CXIV. 

THE    GILDER. 

Penetrating  further  and  further  into  the  heart  of  the  Japanese 
cruising  ground,  the  Pequod  was  soon  all  astir  in  the  fishery. 
Often,  in  mild,  pleasant  weather,  for  twelve,  fifteen,  eighteen,  and 
twenty  hours  on  the  stretch,  they  were  engaged  in  the  hoats, 
steadily  pulling,  or  sailing,  or  paddling  after  the  whales,  or  for  an 
interlude  of  sixty  or  seventy  minutes  calmly  awaiting  their 
uprising  ;  though  with  hut  small  success  for  their  pains. 

At  such  times,  under  an  abated  sun ;  afloat  all  day  upon 
smooth,  slow  heaving  swells  ;  seated  in  his  boat,  light  as  a  birch 
canoe ;  and  so  sociably  mixing  with  the  soft  waves  themselves, 
that  like  hearth-stone  cats  they  purr  against  the  gunwale  ;  these 
are  the  times  of  dreamy  quietude,  when  beholding  the  tranquil 
beauty  and  brilliancy  of  the  ocean's  skin,  one  forgets  the  tiger 
heart  that  pants  beneath  it ;  and  would  not  willingly  remember, 
that  this  velvet  paw  but  conceals  a  remorseless  fang. 

These  are  the  times,  when  in  his  whale-boat  the  rover  softly 
feels  a  certain  filial,  confident,  land-like  feeling  towards  the  sea ; 
that  he  regards  it  as  so  much  flowery  earth ;  and  the  distant 
ship  revealing  only  the  tops  of  her  masts,  seems  struggling  for- 
ward, not  through  high  rolling  waves,  but  through  the  tall  grass 
of  a  rolling  prairie  :  as  when  the  western  emigrants'  horses  only 
show  their  erected  ears,  while  their  hidden  bodies  widely  wade 
through  the  amazing  verdure. 

The  long-drawn  virgin  vales ;  the  mild  blue  hill-sides ;  as 
over  these  there  steals  the  hush,  the  hum  ;  you  almost  swear 
that  play-wearied  children  lie  sleeping  in  these  solitudes,  in 
some  glad  May-time,  when  the  flowers  of  the  woods  are  plucked. 
And  all  this  mixes  with  your  most  mystic  mood  ;  so  that  fact 


THE    GILDER.  545 


and  fancy,  half-way  meeting,  interpenetrate,  and  form  one  seam- 
less whole. 

JSTor  did  such  soothing  scenes,  however  temporary,  fail  of  at 
least  as  temporary  an  effect  on  Ahab.  But  if  these  secret  golden 
keys  did  seem  to  open  in  him  his  own  secret  golden  treasuries, 
yet  did  his  breath  upon  them  prove  but  tarnishing. 

Oh,  grassy  glades !  oh,  ever  vernal  endless  landscapes  in  the  soul ; 
in  ye, — though  long  parched  by  the  dead  drought  of  the  earthy 
life, — in  ye,  men  yet  may  roll,  like  young  horses  in  new  morning 
clover  ;  and  for  some  few  fleeting  moments,  feel  the  cool  dew  of 
the  life  immortal  on  them.  Would  to  God  these  blessed  calms 
would  last.  But  the  mingled,  mingling  threads  of  life  are  woven 
by  warp  and  woof:  calms  crossed  by  storms,  a  storm  for  every 
calm.  There  is  no  steady  unretracing  progress  in  this  life  ;  we 
do  not  advance  through  fixed  gradations,  and  at  the  last  one 
pause : — through  infancy's  unconscious  spell,  boyhood's  thought- 
less faith,  adolescence'  doubt  (the  common  doom),  then  scepti- 
cism, then  disbelief,  resting  at  last  in  manhood's  pondering 
repose  of  If.  But  once  gone  through,  we  trace  the  round  again ; 
and  are  infants,  boys,  and  men,  and  Ifs  eternally.  Where  lies 
the  final  harbor,  whence  we  unmoor  no  more  ?  In  what  rapt 
ether  sails  the  world,  of  which  the  weariest  will  never  weary  ? 
•Where  is  the  foundling's  father  hidden  ?  Our  souls  are  like  those 
orphans  whose  unwedded  mothers  die  in  bearing  them :  the 
secret  of  our  paternity  lies  in  their  grave,  and  we  must  there  to 
learn  it. 

And  that  same  day,  too,  gazing  far  down  from  his  boat's  side 
into  that  same  golden  sea,  Starbuck  lowly  murmured  : — 

"  Loveliness  unfathomable,  as  ever  lover  saw  in  his  young 
bride's  eye  ! — Tell  me  not  of  thy  teeth-tiered  sharks,  and  thy 
kidnapping  cannibal  ways.  Let  faith  oust  fact ;  let  fancy  oust 
memory  ;  I  look  deep  down  and  do  believe." 

And  Stubb,  fish-like,  with  sparkling  scales,  leaped  up  in  that 
same  golden  light : — 


546  THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  BACHELOR. 

"  I  am  Stubb,  and  Stubb  has  his  history  ;  but  here  Stubb 
takes  oaths  that  he  has  always  been  jolly  !" 


CHAPTER  CXV. 

THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  BACHELOR. 

And  jolly  enough  were  the  sights  and  the  sounds  that  came 
bearing  down'  before  the  wind,  some  few  weeks  after  Ahab's 
harpoon  had  been  welded. 

It  was  a  Nantucket  ship,  the  Bachelor,  which  had  just  wedged 
in  her  last  cask  of  oil,  and  bolted  down  her  bursting  hatches ; 
and  now,  in  glad  holiday  apparel,  was  joyously,  though  some- 
what vain-gloriously,  sailing  round  among  the  widely-separated 
ships  on  the  ground,  previous  to  pointing  her  prow  for  home. 

The  three  men  at  her  mast-head  wore  long  streamers  of  nar- 
row red  bunting  at  their  hats ;  from  the  stern,  a  whale-boat 
was  suspended,  bottom  down ;  and  hanging  captive  from  the 
bowsprit  was  seen  the  long  lower  jaw  of  the  last  whale  they 
had  slain.  Signals,  ensigns,  and  jacks  of  all  colors  were  flying 
from  her  rigging,  on  every  side.  Sideways  lashed  in  each  of 
her  three  basketed  tops  were  two  barrels  of  sperm  ;  above  which, 
in  her  top-mast  cross-trees,  you  saw  slender  breakers  of  the  same 
precious  fluid ;  and  nailed  to  her  main  truck  was  a  brazen 
lamp. 

As  was  afterwards  learned,  the  Bachelor  had  met  with  the 
most  surprising  success  ;  all  the  more  wonderful,  for  that  while 
cruising  in  the  same  seas  numerous  other  vessels  had  gone 
entire  months  without  securing  a  single  fish.  Not  only  had 
barrels  of  beef  and  bread  been  given  away  to  make  room  for 
the  far  more  valuable  sperm,  but  additional  supplemental  casks 
had  been  bartered  for,  from  the  ships  she  had  met ;  and  these 


THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  BACHELOR.  547 

were  stowed  along  the  deck,  and  in  the  captain's  and  officers' 
state-rooms.  Even  the  cabin  table  itself  had  been  knocked  into 
kindling-wood ;  and  the  cabin  mess  dined  off  the  broad  head 
of  an  oil-butt,  lashed  down  to  the  floor  for  a  centrepiece.  In  the 
forecastle,  the  sailors  had  actually  caulked  and  pitched  their 
chests,  and  filled  them ;  it  was  humorously  added,  that  the  cook 
had  clapped  ahead  on  his  largest  boiler,  and  filled  it;  that  the 
steward  had  plugged  his  spare  coffee-pot  and  filled  it ;  that  the. 
harpooneers  had  headed  the  sockets  of  their  irons  and  filled 
them ;  that  indeed  everything  was  filled  with  sperm,  except  the 
captain's  pantaloons  pockets,  and  those  he  reserved  to  thrust 
his  hands  into,  in  self-complacent  testimony  of  his  entire  satis- 
faction. 

As  this  glad  ship  of  good  luck  bore  down  upon  the  moody 
Pequod,  the  barbarian  sound  of  enormous  drums  came  from  her 
forecastle ;  and  drawing  still  nearer,  a  crowd  of  her  men  were 
seen  standing  round  her  huge  try-pots,  which,  covered  with  the 
parchment-like  poke  or  stomach  skin  of  the  black  fish,  gave  forth 
a  loud  roar  to  every  stroke  of  the  clenched  hands  of  the  crew. 
On  the  quarter-deck,  the  mates  and  harpooneers  were  dancing 
with  the  olive-hued  girls  who  had  eloped  with  them  from  the 
Polynesian  Isles ;  while  suspended  in  an  ornamented  boat, 
firmly  secured  aloft  between  the  foremast  and  mainmast,  three 
Long  Island  negroes,  with  glittering  fiddle-bows  of  whale  ivory, 
were  presiding  over  the  hilarious  jig.  Meanwhile,  others  of  the 
ship's  company  were  tumultuously  busy  at  the  masonry  of  the 
try-works,  from  which  the  huge  pots  had  been  removed.  You 
would  have  almost  thought  they  were  pulling  down  the  cursed 
Bastile,  such  wild  cries  they  raised,  as  the  now  useless  brick 
and  mortar  were  being  hurled  into  the  sea. 

Lord  and  master  over  all  this  scene,  the  captain  stood  erect 
on  the  ship's  elevated  quarter-deck,  so  that  the  whole  rejoicing 
drama  was  full  before  him,  and  seemed  merely  contrived  for , 
his  own  individual  diversion. 


548    THE   PEQUOD    MEETS    THE    BACHELOR. 

And  Ahab,  he  too  was  standing  on  his  quarter-deck,  shaggy 
and  black,  with  a  stubborn  gloom ;  and  as  the  two  ships  crossed 
each  other's  wakes — one  all  jubilations  for  things  passed,  the 
other  all  forebodings  as  to  things  to  come — their  two  captains 
in  themselves  impersonated  the  whole  striking  contrast  of  the 
scene. 

"  Come  aboard,  come  aboard !"  cried  the  gay  Bachelor's  com- 
mander, lifting  a  glass  and  a  bottle  in  the  air. 

"  Hast  seen  the  White  Whale  ?"  gritted  Ahab  in  reply. 

"  No  ;  only  heard  of  him  ;  but  don't  believe  in  him  at  all," 
said  the  other  good-humoredly.     "  Come  aboard !" 

"  Thou  art  too  damned  jolly.  Sail  on.  Hast  lost  any 
men  ?" 

"  Not  enough  to  speak  of — two  islanders,  that's  all ; — but 
come  aboard,  old  hearty,  come  along.  I'll  soon  take  that  black 
from  your  brow.  Come  along,  will  ye  (merry's  the  play) ;  a 
full  ship  and  homeward-bound." 

"  How  wondrous  familiar  is  a  fool !"  muttered  Ahab ;  then 
aloud,  "  Thou  art  a  full  ship  and  homeward  bound,  thou  sayst ; 
well,  then,  call  me  an  empty  ship,  and  outward-bound.  So  go 
thy  ways,  and  I  will  mine.  Forward  there !  Set  all  sail,  and 
keep  her  to  the  wind-!" 

And  thus,  while  the  one  ship  went  cheerily  before  the  breeze, 
the  other  stubbornly  fought  against  it ;  and  so  the  two  vessels 
parted ;  the  crew  of  the  Pequod  looking  with  grave,  lingering 
glances  towards  the  receding  Bachelor;  but  the  Bachelor's 
men  never  heeding  their  gaze  for  the  lively  revelry  they  were 
in.  And  as  Ahab,  leaning  over  the  taffrail,  eyed  the  home- 
ward-bound craft,  he  took  from  his  pocket  a  small  vial  of  sand, 
and  then  looking  from  the  ship  to  the  vial,  seemed  thereby 
bringing  two  remote  associations  together,  for  that  Anal  was  filled 
with  Nantucket  soundings. 


THE    DYING    WHALE.  549 


CHAPTER  CXVL 

THE    DYING   WHALE. 

Not  seldom  in  this  life,  when,  on  the  right  side,  fortune's 
favorites  sail  close  by  us,  we,  though  all  adroop  before,  catch 
somewhat  of  the  rushing  breeze,  and  joyfully  feel  our  bagging 
sails  fill  out.  So  seemed  it  with  the  Pequod.  For  next  day 
after  encountering  the  gay  Bachelor,  whales  were  seen  and  four 
were  slain  ;  and  one  of  them  by  Ahab. 

It  was  far  down  the  afternoon  ;  and  when  all  the  spearings  of 
the  crimson  fight  were  done  :  and  floating  in  the  lovely  sunset 
sea  and  sky,  sun  and  whale  both  stilly  died  together  ;  then,  such 
a  sweetness  and  such  plaintiveness,  such  inwreathing  orisons 
curled  up  in  that  rosy  air,  that  it  almost  seemed  as  if  far  over 
from  the  deep  green  convent  valleys  of  the  Manilla  isles,  the 
Spanish  land-breeze,  wantonly  turned  sailor,  had  gone  to  sea, 
freighted  with  these  vesper  hymns. 

Soothed  again,  but  only  soothed  to  deeper  gloom,  Ahab,  who 
had  sterned  off  from  the  whale,  sat  intently  watching  his  final 
wanings  from  the  now  tranquil  boat.  For  that  strange  spectacle 
observable  in  all  sperm  whales  dying — the  turning  sunwards  of 
the  head,  and  so  expiring — that  strange  spectacle,  beheld  of 
such  a  placid  evening,  somehow  to  Ahab  conveyed  a  wondrous- 
ness  unknown  before. 

"  He  turns  and  turns  him  to  it, — how  slowly,  but  how  stead- 
fastly, his  homage-rendering  and  invoking  brow,  with  his 
last  dying  motions.  He  too  worships  fire  ;  most  faithful,  broad, 
baronial  vassal  of  the  sun ! — Oh  that  these  too-favoring  eyes 
6hould  see  these  too-favoring  sights.  Look !  here,  far  water- 
locked  ;  beyond  all  hum  of  human  weal  or  woe  ;  in  these  most 
candid  and  impartial  seas  ;  where  to  traditions  no  rocks  furnish 


550  THE    WHALE    WATCH. 

tablets  ;  where  for  long  Chinese  ages,  the  billows  have  still  rolled 
on  speechless  and  unspoken  to,  as  stars  that  shine  upon  the 
Niger's  unknown  source  ;  here,  too,  life  dies  sunwards  full  of 
faith ;  but  see  !  no  sooner  dead,  than  death  whirls  round  the 
corpse,  and  it  heads  some  other  way. — 

"  Oh,  thou  dark  Hindoo  half  of  nature,  who  of  drowned  bones 
hast  builded  thy  separate  throne  somewhere  in  the  heart  of 
these  unverdured  seas  ;  thou  art  an  infidel,  thou  queen,  and  too 
truly  speakest  to  me  in  the  wide-slaughtering  Typhoon,  and  the 
hushed  burial  of  its  after  calm.  Nor  has  this  thy  whale  sun- 
wards turned  his  dying  head,  and  then  gone  round  again,  with- 
out a  lesson  to  me. 

"  Oh,  trebly  hooped  and  welded  hip  of  power  ?  Oh,  high  aspir- 
ing, rainbowed  jet ! — that  one  strivest,  this  one  jettest  all  in 
vain  !  In  vain,  oh  whale,  dost  thou  seek  intercedings  with  yon 
all-quickening  sun,  that  only  calls  forth  life,  but  gives  it  not 
again.  Yet  dost  thou,  darker  half,  rock  me  with  a  prouder,  if 
a  darker  faith.  All  thy  unnamable  imminglings  float  beneath 
me  here  ;  I  am  buoyed  by  breaths  of  once  living  things,  exhaled 
as  air,  but  water  now. 

"  Then  hail,  for  ever  hail,  O  sea,  in  whose  eternal  tossings  the 
wild  fowl  finds  his  only  rest.  Born  of  earth,  yet  suckled  by  the 
sea ;  though  hill  and  valley  mothered  me,  ye  billows  are  my 
foster-brothers !" 


CHAPTER  CXVn. 

-N   THE    WHALE    WATCH. 

The  four  whales  slain  that  evening  had  died  wide  apart ;  one, 
far  to  windward ;  one,  less  distant,  to  leeward  ;  one  ahead ;  one 
astem.  These  last  three  were  brought  alongside  ere  nightfall ; 
but  the  windward  one  could  not  be  reached  till  morning ;  and 


THE    WHALE    WATCH.  551 

the  boat  that  had  killed  it  lay  by  its  side  all  night ;  and  that 
boat  was  Ahab's. 

The  waif-pole  was  thrust  upright  into  the  dead  whale's 
spout-hole  ;  and  the  lantern  hanging  from  its  top,  cast  a  troubled 
flickering  glare  upon  the  black,  glossy  back,  and  far  out  upon 
the  midnight  waves,  which  gently  chafed  the  whale's  broad  flank, 
like  soft  surf  upon  a  beach. 

Ahab  and  all  his  boat's  crew  seemed  asleep  but  the  Parsee ; 
who  crouching  in  the  bow,  sat  watching  the  sharks,  that  spec- 
trally played  round  the  whale,  and  tapped  the  light  cedar  planks 
with  their  tails.  A  sound  like  the  moaning  in  squadrons  over 
Asphaltites  of  unforgiven  ghosts  of  Gomorrah,  ran  shuddering 
through  the  air. 

Started  from  his  slumbers,  Ahab,  face  to  face,  saw  the  Parsee ; 
and  hooped  round  by  the  gloom  of  the  night  they  seemed  the 
last  men  in  a  flooded  world.  "I  have  dreamed  it  again," 
said  he. 

"  Of  the  hearses  ?  Have  I  not  said,  old  man,  that  neither 
hearse  nor  coffin  can  be  thine  ?" 

"  And  who  are  hearsed  that  die  on  the  sea  ?" 

"  But  I  said,  old  man,  that  ere  thou  couldst  die  on  this  voyage, 
two  hearses  must  verily  be  seen  by  thee  on  the  sea  ;  the  first  not 
•made  by  mortal  hands ;  and  the  visible  wood  of  the  last  one  must 
be  grown  in  America." 

"  Aye,  aye  !  a  strange  sight  that,  Parsee  : — a  hearse  and  its 
plumes  floating  over  the  ocean  with  the  waves  for  the  pall- 
bearers.    Ha  !     Such  a  sight  we  shall  not  soon  see." 

"  Believe  it  or  not,  thou  canst  not  die  till  it  be  seen,  old  man." 

"  And  what  was  that  saying  about  thyself  ?" 

"  Though  it  come  to  the  last,  I  shall  still  go  before  thee  thy 
pilot." 

"  And  when  thou  art  so  gone  before — if  that  ever  befall — then 
ere  I  can  follow,  thou  must  still  appear  to  me,  to  pilot  me 
still  ? — Was  it  not  so  ?    Well,  then,  did  I  believe  all  ye  say,  oh 


552  THE    QUADRANT. 

my  pilot !  I  have  here  two  pledges  that  I  shall  yet  slay  Moby 
Dick  and  survive  it.'' 

"  Take  another  pledge,  old  man,"  said  the  Parsee,  as  his  eyes 
lighted  up  like  fire-flies  in  the  gloom — "  Hemp  only  can  kill 
thee." 

"  The  gallows,  ye  mean. — I  am  immortal  then,  on  land  and 
on  sea,''  cried  Ahab,  with  a  laugh  of  derision  ; — "  Immortal  on 
land  and  on  sea  !" 

Both  were  silent  again,  as  one  man.  The  grey  dawn  came 
on,  and  the  slumbering  crew  arose  from  the  boat's  bottom,  and 
ere  noon  the  dead  whale  was  brought  to  the  ship. 


CHAPTER  CXVIH. 

THE  QUADRANT. 

The  season  for  the  Line  at  length  drew  near ;  and  every  day 
when  Ahab,  coming  from  his  cabin,  cast  his  eyes  aloft,  the 
vigilant  helmsman  would  ostentatiously  handle  his  spokes,  and 
the  eager  mariners  quickly  run  to  the  braces,  and  would  stand 
there  with  all  their  eyes  centrally  fixed  on  the  nailed  doubloon ; 
impatient  for  the  order  to  point  the  ship's  prow  for  the  equator. 
In  good  time  the  order  came.  It  was  hard  upon  high  noon ; 
and  Ahab,  seated  in  the  bows  of  his  high-hoisted  boat,  was 
about  taking  his  wonted  daily  observation  of  the  sun  to  deter- 
mine his  latitude. 

Now,  in  that  Japanese  sea,  the  days  in  summer  are  as  fresh- 
ets of  effulgences.  That  unblinkingly  vivid  Japanese  sun  seems 
the  blazing  focus  of  the  glassy  ocean's  immeasurable  burning- 
glass.  The  sky  looks  lacquered ;  clouds  there  are  none  ;  the 
horizon  floats ;  and  this  nakedness  of  unrelieved  radiance  is  as 
the  insufferable  splendors  of  God's  throne.     Well  that  Ahab's 


THE    QUADRANT.  553 

quadrant  was  furnished  with  colored  glasses,  through  which  to 
take  sight  of  that  solar  fire.     So,  swinging  his  seated  form  to 
the  roll  of  the  ship,  and  with  his  astrological-looking  instrument 
placed   to   his   eye,   he   remained   in   that  posture   for   some 
moments  to  catch  the  precise  instant  when  the  sun  should  gain 
its  precise  meridian.     Meantime  while  his  whole  attention  was 
absorbed,  the  Parsee  was  kneeling  beneath  him  on  the  ship's 
deck,  and  with  face  thrown  up  like  Ahab's,  was  eyeing  the 
same  sun  with  him  ;  only  the  lids  of  his  eyes  half  hooded  their 
orbs,  and  his  wild  face  was  subdued  to  an  earthly  passionless- 
ness. .    At  length  the  desired  observation  was  taken  ;  and  with 
his  pencil  upon  his  ivory  leg,  Ahab  soon  calculated  what  his 
latitude  must  be  at  that  precise  instant.     Then  falling  into  a 
moment's  revery,  he  again  looked  up  towards  the  sun  and  mur- 
mured to  himself :  "  Thou  sea-mark !  thou  high  and  mighty  Pilot ! 
thou  tellest  me  truly  where  I  am — but  canst  thou  cast  the  least 
hint  where  I  shall  be  ?     Or  canst  thou  tell  where  some  other 
thing  besides  me  is  this  moment  living  ?     Where  is  Moby 
Dick  ?     This  instant  thou  must  be  eyeing  him.     These  eyes  of 
mine  look  into  the  very  eye  that  is  even  now  beholding  him ; 
aye,  and  into  the  eye  that  is  even  now  equally  beholding  the 
objects  on  the  unknown,  thither  side  of  thee,  thou  sun  !" 
.    Then  gazing  at  his  quadrant,  and  handling,  one  after  the 
other,  its  numerous  cabalistical  contrivances,  he  pondered  again, 
and  muttered :  "  Foolish  toy  !  babies'  plaything  of  haughty 
Admirals,  and  Commodores,  and  Captains ;  the  world  brags  of 
thee,  of  thy  cunning  and  might ;  but  what  after  all  canst  thou 
do,  but  tell  the  poor,  pitiful  point,  where  thou  thyself  happenest 
to  be  on  this  wide  planet,  and  the  hand  that  holds  thee  :  no  ! 
not  one  jot  more !     Thou  canst  not  tell  where  one  drop  of 
water  or  one  grain  of  sand  will  be  to-morrow  noon ;  and  yet 
with  thy  impotence  thou  insultest  the  sun  !     Science  !     Curse 
thee,  thou  vain  toy ;  and  cursed  be  all  the  things  that  cast 
man's   eyes  aloft  to  that  heaven,   whose  live  vividness  but 

24 


554  THE    QUADRANT. 

scorches  him,  as  these  old  eyes  are  even  now  scorched  with  thy 
light,  0  sun !  Level  by  nature  to  this  earth's  horizon  are  the 
glances  of  man's  eyes  ;  not  shot  from  the  crown  of  his  head,  as 
if  God  had  meant  him  to  gaze  on  his  firmament.  Curse  thee, 
thou  quadrant !"  dashing  it  to  the  deck,  "  no  longer  will  I 
guide  my  earthly  way  by  thee ;  the  level  ship's  compass,  and 
the  level  dead-reckoning,  by  log  and  by  line ;  these  shall  con- 
duct me,  and  show  me  my  place  on  the  sea.  Aye,''  lighting 
from  the  boat  to  the  deck,  "  thus  I  trample  on  thee,  thou  paltry 
thing  that  feebly  pointest  on  high ;  thus  I  split  and  destroy 
thee!" 

As  the  frantic  old  man  thus  spoke  and  thus  trampled  with 
his  live  and  dead  feet,  a  sneering  triumph  that  seemed  meant 
for  Ahab,  and  a  fatalistic  despair  that  seemed  meant  for  him- 
self— these  passed  over  the  mute,  motionless  Parsee's  face.  Un- 
observed he  rose  and  glided  away ;  while,  awestruck  by  the 
aspect  of  their  commander,  the  seamen  clustered  together  on  the 
forecastle,  till  Ahab,  troubledly  pacing  the  deck,  shouted  out — 
"  To  the  braces  !     Up  helm  ! — square  in  !" 

In  an  instant  the  yards  swung  round ;  and  as  the  ship  half- 
wheeled  upon  her  heel,  her  three  firm-seated  graceful  masts 
erectly  poised  upon  her  long,  ribbed  hull,  seemed  as  the  three 
Horatii  pirouetting  on  one  sufficient  steed. 

Standing  between  the  knight-heads,  Starbuck  watched  the 
Pequod's  tumultuous  way,  and  Ahab's  also,  as  he  went  lurching 
along  the  deck. 

"  I  have  sat  before  the  dense  coal  fire  and  watched  it  all 
aglow,  full  of  its  tormented  flaming  life ;  and  I  have  seen  it  wane 
at  last,  down,  down,  to  dumbest  dust.  Old  man  of  oceans  !  of 
all  this  fiery  life  of  thine,  what  will  at  length  remain  but  one 
little  heap  of  ashes !" 

"  Aye,"  cried  Stubb,  "  but  sea-coal  ashes — mind  ye  that,  Mr. 
Starbuck — sea-coal,  not  your  common  charcoal.  Well,  well ;  I 
heard  Ahab  mutter,  '  Here  some  one  thrusts  these  cards  into 


THE    CANDLES.  555 

these  old  hands  of  mine ;  swears  that  I  must  play  them,  and  no 
others.'  And  damn  me,  Ahab,  but'  thou  actest  right ;  live  in 
the  game,  and  die  it !" 


CHAPTER  CXIX. 

''--THE    CANDLES. 

Warmest  climes  but  nurse  the  cruellest  fangs  :  the  tiger  of 
Bengal  crouches  in  spiced  groves  of  ceaseless  verdure.  Skies 
the  most  effulgent  but  basket  the  deadliest  thunders  :  gorgeous 
Cuba  knows  tornadoes  that  never  swept  tame  northern  lands. 
So,  too,  it  is,  that  in  these  resplendent  Japanese  seas  the  mari- 
ner encounters  the  direst  of  all  storms,  the  Typhoon.  It  will 
sometimes  burst  from  out  that  cloudless  sky,  like  an  exploding 
bomb  upon  a  dazed  and  sleepy  town. 

Towards  evening  of  that  day,  the  Pequod  was  torn  of  her 
canvas,  and  bare-poled  was  left  to  fight  a  Typhoon  which  had 
struck  her  directly  ahead.  When  darkness  came  on,  sky  and 
sea  roared  and  split  with  the  thunder,  and  blazed  with  the 
lightning,  that  showed  the  disabled  masts  fluttering  here  and 
there  with  the  rags  which  the  first  fury  of  the  tempest  had  left 
for  its  after  sport. 

Holding  by  a  shroud,  Starbuck  was  standing  on  the  quarter- 
deck ;  at  every  flash  of  the  lightning  glancing  aloft,  to  see  what 
additional  disaster  might  have  befallen  the  intricate  hamper 
there ;  while  Stubb  and  Flask  were  directing  the  men  in  the 
higher  hoisting  and  firmer  lashing  of  the  boats.  But  all  their 
pains  seemed  naught.  Though  lifted  to  the  very  top  of  the 
cranes,  the  windward  quarter  boat  (Ahab's)  did  not  escape. 
A  great  rolling  sea,  dashing  high  up  against  the  reeling  ship's 
high  tetering  side,  stove  in  the  boat's  bottom  at  the  stern,  and 
left  it  again,  all  dripping  through  like  a  sieve. 


556  THE    CANDLES. 

"  Bad  work,  bad  work  !  Mr.  Starbuck,"  said  Stubb,  regarding 
the  wreck,  "  but  tbe  sea  will  have  its  way.  Stubb,  for  one,  can't 
fight  it.  You  see,  Mr.  Starbuck,  a  wave  has  such  a  great  long 
start  before  it  leaps,  all  round  the  world  it  runs,  and  then  comes 
the  spring !  But  as  for  me,  all  the  start  I  have  to  meet  it,  is 
just  across  the  deck  here.  But  never  mind  ;  it's  all  in  fun  :  so 
the  old  song  says  ;" — (sings.) 

Oh  !  jolly  is  the  gale, 
And  a  joker  is  the  whale, 
A'  flourishin'  his  tail, — 
Such  a  funny,  sporty,  gamy,  jesty,  joky,  hoky-poky  lad,  is  the  Ocean,  oh ! 

The  scud  all  a  flyin', 
That's  his  flip  only  foamin' ; 
When  he  stirs  in  the  spicin', — 
Such  a  funny,  sporty,  gamy,  jesty,  joky,  hoky-poky  lad,  is  the  Ocean,  oh ! 

Thunder  splits  the  ships, 
But  he  only  smacks  his  lips, 
A  tastin'  of  this  flip, — 
Such  a  funny,  sporty,  gamy,  jesty,  joky,  hoky-poky  lad,  is  the  Ocean,  oh ! 

"  Avast  Stubb,"  cried  Starbuck,  "  let  the  Typhoon  sing,  and 
strike  his  harp  here  in  our  rigging  ;  but  if  thou  art  a  brave  man 
thou  wilt  hold  thy  peace." 

"  But  I  am  not  a  brave  man  ;  never  said  I  was  a  brave  man ; 
I  am  a  coward  ;  and  I  sing  to  keep  up  my  spirits.  And  I  tell 
you  what  it  is,  Mr.  Starbuck,  there's  no  way  to  stop  my  singing 
in  this  world  but  to  cut  my  throat.  And  when  that's  done, 
ten  to  one  I  sing  ye  the  doxology  for  a  wind-up." 

"  Madman  !  look  through  my  eyes  if  thou  hast  none  of  thine 
own." 

"  What !  how  can  you  see  better  of  a  dark  night  than  any- 
body else,  never  mind  how  foolish  ?'' 

"  Here !"  cried  Starbuck,  seizing  Stubb  by  the  shoulder,  and 


THE    CANDLES.  557 

pointing  his  hand  towards  the  weather  bow,  "  markest  thou  not 
that  the  gale  comes  from  the  eastward,  the  very  course  Ahab 
is  to  run  for  Moby  Dick  ?  the  veiy  course  he  swung  to  this  day 
noon  ?  now  mark  his  boat  there  ;  where  is  that  stove  ?  In  the 
stern-sheets,  man  ;  where  he  is  wont  to  stand — his  stand-point  is 
stove,  man  !  Now  jump  overboard,  and  sing  away,  if  thou  must !" 

"  I  don't  half  understand  ye  :  what's  in  the  wind  ?" 
Yes,  yes,  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  is  the  sbortest  way 
to  Nantucket,"  soliloquized  Starbuck  suddenly,  heedless  of 
Stubb's  question.  "  The  gale  that  now  hammers  at  us  to  stave 
us,  we  can  turn  it  into  a  fair  wind  that  will  drive  us  towards 
home.  Yonder,  to  windward,  all  is  blackness  of  doom  ;  but  to 
leeward,  homeward — I  see  it  lightens  up  there  ;  but  not  with  the 
lightning." 

At  that  moment  in  one  of  the  intervals  of  profound  darkness, 
following  the  flashes,  a  voice  was  heard  at  his  side  ;  and  almost 
at  the  same  instant  a  volley  of  thunder  peals  rolled  overhead. 

"Who's  there?" 

"Old  Thunder!"  said  Ahab,  groping  his  way  along  the 
bulwarks  to  his  pivot-hole  ;  but  suddenly  finding  his  path  made 
plain  to  him  by  elbowed  lances  of  fire. 

Now,  as  the  lightning  rod  to  a  spire  on  shore  is  intended  to 
carry  off  the  perilous  fluid  into  the  soil ;  so  the  kindred  rod 
which  at  sea  some  ships  carry  to  each  mast,  is  intended  to  con- 
duct it  into  the  water.  But  as  this  conductor  must  descend  to 
considerable  depth,  that  its  end  may  avoid  all  contact  with  tho 
hull ;  and  as  moreover,  if  kept  constantly  towing  there,  it  would 
be  liable  to  many  mishaps,  besides  interfering  not  a  little  with 
some  of  the  rigging,  and  more  or  less  impeding  the  vessel's  wray 
in  the  water ;  because  of  all  this,  the  lower  parts  of  a  ship's 
lightning-rods  are  not  always  overboard ;  but  are  generally 
made  in  long  slender  links,  so  as  to  be  the  more  readily  hauled 
up  into  the  chains  outside,  or  thrown  down  into  the  sea,  as 
occasion  may  require. 


558  THE    CANDLES. 


"  The  rods  !  the  rods  !"  cried  Starbuck  to  the  crew,  suddenly 
admonished  to  vigilance  by  the  vivid  lightning  that  had  just 
been  darting  flambeaux,  to  light  Ahab  to  his  post.  "  Are  they 
overboard  ?  drop  them  over,  fore  and  aft.     Quick  !" 

"  Avast !"  cried  Ahab  ;  "  let's  have  fair  play  here,  though  we 
be  the  weaker  side.  Yet  I'll  contribute  to  raise  rods  on  the 
Himmalehs  and  Andes,  that  all  the  world  may  be  secured  ;  but 
out  on  privileges  !   Let  them  be,  sir." 

"  Look  aloft !"  cried  Starbuck.  "  The  corpusants  !  the  cor- 
pusants !" 

All  the  yard-arms  were  tipped  with  a  pallid  fire  ;  and  touched 
at  each  tri-pointed  lightning-rod-end  with  three  tapering  white 
flames,  each  of  the  three  tall  masts  was  silently  burning  in  that 
sulphurous  air,  like  three  gigantic  wax  tapers  before  an  altar. 

"  Blast  the  boat !  let  it  go  !"  cried  Stubb  at  this  instant,  as  a 
swashing  sea  heaved  up  under  his  own  little  craft,  so  that  its 
gunwale  violently  jammed  his  hand,  as  he  was  passing  a  lashing. 
"  Blast  it !" — but  slipping  backward  on  the  deck,  his  uplifted 
eyes  caught  the  flames  ;  and  immediately  shifting  his  tone,  he 
cried — "  The  corpusants  have  mercy  on  us  all !" 

To  sailors'  oaths  are  household  words  ;  they  will  swear  in  the 
trance  of  the  calm,  and  in  the  teeth  of  the  tempest ;  they  will 
imprecate  curses  from  the  topsail-yard-arms,  when  most  they 
teter  over  to  a  seething  sea ;  but  in  all  my  voyagings,  seldom 
have  I  heard  a  common  oath  when  God's  burning  finger  has 
been  laid  on  the  ship ;  when  His  "  Mene,  Mene,  Tekel  Uphar- 
sin"  has  been  woven  into  the  shrouds  and  the  cordage. 

While  this  pallidness  was  burning  aloft,  few  words  were 
heard  from  the  enchanted  crew  ;  who  in  one  thick  cluster  stood 
on  the  forecastle,  all  their  eyes  gleaming  in  that  pale  phosphor- 
escence, like  a  far  away  constellation  of  stare.  Relieved  against 
the  ghostly  light,  the  gigantic  jet  negro,  Daggoo,  loomed  up  to 
thrice  his  real  stature,  and  seemed  the  black  cloud  from  which 
the  thunder  had  come.     The  parted  mouth  of  Tashtego  revealed 


THE    CANDLES.  559 

his  shark-white  teeth,  which  strangely  gleamed  as  if  they  too 
had  been  tipped  by  corpusants ;  while  lit  up  by  the  preter- 
natural light,  Queequeg's  tattooing  burned  like  Satanic  blue 
flames  on  his  body. 

The  tableau  all  waned  at  last  with  the  pallidness  aloft ;  and 
once  more  the  Pequod  and  every  soul  on  her  decks  were 
wrapped  in  a  pall.  A  moment  or  two  passed,  when  Starbuck, 
going  forward,  pushed  against  some  one.  It  was  Stubb.  "  What 
thinkest  thou  now,  man ;  I  heard  thy  cry ;  it  was  not  the  same 
in  the  song." 

"  No,  no,  it  wasn't ;  I  said  the  corpusants  have  mercy  on  us 
all ;  and  I  hope  they  will,  still.  But  do  they  only  have  mercy 
on  long  faces  ? — have  they  no  bowels  for  a  laugh  ?  And  look 
ye,  Mr.  Starbuck — but  it's  too  dark  too  look.  Hear  me,  then : 
I  take  that  mast-head  flame  we  saw  for  a  sign  of  good  luck ;  for 
those  masts  are  rooted  in  a  hold  that  is  going  to  be  chock  a' 
block  with  sperm-oil,  d'ye  see ;  and  so,  all  that  sperm  will  work 
up  into  the  masts,  like  sap  in  a  tree.  Yes,  our  three  masts  will 
yet  be  as  three  spermaceti  candles — that's  the  good  promise  we 
saw." 

At  that  moment  Starbuck  caught  sight  of  Stubb's  face  slowly 
beginning  to  glimmer  into  sight.  Glancing  upwards,  he  cried  : 
"  See !  see !"  and  once  more  the  high  tapering  flames  were 
beheld  with  what  seemed  redoubled  supernaturalness  in  their 
pallor. 

"  The  corpusants  have  mercy  on  us  all,"  cried  Stubb,  again. 

At  the  base  of  the  mainmast,  full  beneath  the  doubloon  and 
the  flame,  the  Parsee  was  kneeling  in  Ahab's  front,  but  with  his 
head  bowed  away  from  him  ;  while  near  by,  from  the  arched  and 
overhanging  rigging,  where  they  had  just  been  engaged  secur- 
ing a  spar,  a  number  of  the  seamen,  arrested  by  the  glare,  now 
cohered  together,  and  hung  pendulous,  like  a  knot  of  numbed 
wasps  from  a  drooping,  orchard  twig.  In  various  enchanted 
attitudes,  like  the  standing,  or  stepping,  or  running  skeletons  in 


560  THE    CANDLES. 

Herculaneum,  others  remained  rooted  to  the  deck  ;  but  all  their 
eyes  upcast. 

"  Aye,  aye,  men !"  cried  Ahab.  "  Look  up  at  it ;  mark  it  well ; 
the  white  flame  but  lights  the  way  to  the  White  Whale ! 
Hand  me  those  main-mast  links  there ;  I  would  fain  feel  this 
pulse,  and  let  mine  beat  against  it ;  blood  against  fire  !     So." 

Then  turning — the  last  link  held  fast  in  his  left  hand,  he  put 
his  foot  upon  the  Parsee ;  and  with  fixed  upward  eye,  and  high- 
fiung  right  arm,  he  stood  erect  before  the  lofty  tri-pointed 
trinity  of  flames. 

"  Oh  !  thou  clear  spirit  of  clear  fire,  whom  on  these  seas  I  as 
Persian  once  did  worship,  till  in  the  sacramental  act  so  burned 
by  thee,  that  to  this  hour  I  bear  the  scar ;  I  now  know  thee, 
thou  clear  spirit,  and  I  now  know  that  thy  right  worship  is 
defiance.  To  neither  love  nor  reverence  wilt  thou  be  kind ;  and 
e'en  for  hate  thou  canst  but  kill ;  and  all  are  killed.  No  fear- 
loss  fool  now  fronts  thee.  I  own  thy  speechless,  placeless 
power  ;  but  to  the  last  gasp  of  my  earthquake  life  will  dispute 
its  unconditional,  unintegral  mastery  in  me.  In  the  midst  of 
the  personified  impersonal,  a  personality  stands  here.  Though 
but  a  point  at  best ;  whencesoe'er  I  came ;  wheresoe'er  I  go ; 
yet  while  I  earthly  live,  the  queenly  personality  fives  in  me,  and 
feels  her  royal  rights.  But  war  is  pain,  and  hate  is  woe.  Come 
in  thy  lowest  form  of  love,  and  I  will  kneel  and  kiss  thee ;  but 
at  thy  highest,  come  as  mere  supernal  power  ;  and  though  thou 
launchest  navies  of  full-freighted  worlds,  there's  that  in  here  that 
still  remains  indifferent.  Oh,  thou  clear  spirit,  of  thy  fire  thou 
madest  me,  and  like  a  true  child  of  fire,  I  breathe  it  back  to  thee." 

[Sudden,  repeated  flashes  of  lightning  ;  the  nine  flames  leap 
lengthwise  to  thrice  their  previous  height  ;  Ahab,  with  the  rest, 
closes  his  eyes,  his  right  hand  pressed  hard  upon  them.] 

"  I  own  thy  speechless,  placeless  power ;  said  I  not  so  ?  Nor 
was  it  wrung  from  me  ;  nor  do  I  now  drop  these  links.     Thou 


THE    CANDLES.  561 

canst  blind  ;  but  I  can  then  grope.  Thou  canst  consume  ;  but 
I  can  then  be  ashes.  Take  the  homage  of  these  poor  eyes,  and 
shutter-hands.  I  would  not  take  it.  The  lightning  flashes 
through  my  skull ;  mine  eye-balls  ache  and  ache ;  my  whole 
beaten  brain  seems  as  beheaded,  and  rolling  on  some  stunning 
ground.  Oh,  oh !  Yet  blindfold,  yet  will  I  talk  to  thee.  Light 
though  thou  be,  thou  leapest  out  of  darkness  ;  but  I  am  dark- 
ness leaping  out  of  light,  leaping  out  of  thee  !  The  javelins 
cease ;  open  eyes ;  see,  or  not  ?  There  burn  the  flames  !  Oh, 
thou  magnanimous !  now  I  do  glory  in  my  genealogy.  But 
thou  art  but  my  fiery  father ;  my  sweet  mother,  I  know  not. 
Oh,  cruel !  what  hast  thou  done  with  her  ?  There  lies  my 
puzzle  ;  but  thine  is  greater.  Thou  knowest  not  how  came  ye, 
hence  callest  thyself  unbegotten ;  certainly  knowest  not  thy 
beginning,  hence  callest  thyself  unbegun.  I  know  that  of  me, 
which  thou  knowest  not  of  thyself,  oh,  thou  omnipotent.  There 
is  some  unsuffusing  thing  beyond  thee,  thou  clear  spirit,  to  whom 
all  thy  eternity  is  but  time,  all  thy  creativeness  mechanical. 
Through  thee,  thy  flaming  self,  my  scorched  eyes  do  dimly  see 
it.  Oh,  thou  foundling  fire,  thou  hermit  immemorial,  thou  too 
hast  thy  incommunicable  riddle,  thy  unparticipated  grief.  Here 
again  with  haughty  agony,  I  read  my  sire.  Leap  !  leap  up,  and 
lick  the  sky  !  I  leap  with  thee  ;  I  burn  with  thee  ;  would  fain 
be  welded  with  thee ;  defyingly  I  worship  thee !" 

"  The  boat !  the  boat !"  cried  Starbuck,  "  look  at  thy  boat, 
old  man  !" 

Ahab's  harpoon,  the  one  forged  at  Perth's  fire,  remained 
firmly  lashed  in  its  conspicuous  crotch,  so  that  it  projected 
beyond  his  whale-boat's  bow ;  but  the  sea  that  had  stove  its 
bottom  had  caused  the  loose  leather  sheath  to  drop  off ;  and 
from  the  keen  steel  barb  there  now  came  a  levelled  flame  of 
pale,  forked  fire.  As  the  silent  harpoon  burned  there  like  a 
serpent's  tongue,  Starbuck  grasped  Ahab  by  the  arm — "  God, 
God  is  against  thee,  old  man ;  forbear !  t'  is  an  ill  voyage !  ill 

24* 


562  THE    DECK. 


begun,  ill  continued ;  let  me  square  the  yards,  while  we  may, 
old  man,  and  make  a  fair  wind  of  it  homewards,  to  go  on  a  bet- 
ter voyage  than  this." 

Overhearing  Starbuck,  the  panic-stricken  crew  instantly  ran 
to  the  braces — though  not  a  sail  was  left  aloft.  For  the 
moment  all  the  aghast  mate's  thoughts  seemed  theirs ;  they  raised 
a  half  mutinous  cry.  But  dashing  the  rattling  lightning  links  to 
the  deck,  and  snatching  the  burning  harpoon,  Ahab  waved  it 
like  a  torch  among  them ;  swearing  to  transfix  with  it  the  first 
sailor  that  but  cast  loose  a  rope's  end.  Petrified  by  his  aspect, 
and  still  more  shrinking  from  the  fiery  dart  that  he  held,  the 
men  fell  back  in  dismay,  and  Ahab  again  spoke  : — 

"  All  your  oaths  to  hunt  the  White  Whale  are  as  binding  as 
mine ;  and  heart,  soul,  and  body,  lungs  and  life,  old  Ahab  is 
bound.  And  that  ye  may  know  to  what  tune  this  heart  beats ; 
look  ye  here ;  thus  I  blow  out  the  last  fear !"  And  with  one 
blast  of  his  breath  he  extinguished  the  flame. 

As  in  the  hurricane  that  sweeps  the  plain,  men  fly  the  neigh- 
borhood of  some  lone,  gigantic  elm,  whose  very  height  and 
strength  but  render  it  so  much  the  more  unsafe,  because  so 
much  the  more  a  mark  for  thunderbolts ;  so  at  those  last  words 
of  Ahab's  many  of  the  mariners  did  run  from  him  in  a  terror 
of  dismay. 


CHAPTER  CXX. 

THE  DECK   TOWARDS   THE    END    OF    THE    FIRST    NIGHT    WATCH. 

Ahab  standing  by  the  helm.     Starbuck  approaching  him. 

"  We  must  send  down  the  main-top-sail  yard,  sir.  The  band 
is  working  loose,  and  the  lee  lift  is  half-stranded.  Shall  I  strike 
it,  sir?" 

"  Strike  nothing ;  lash  it.  If  I  had  sky-sail  poles,  I'd  sway 
them  up  now." 


MIDNIGHT.  563 


"  Sir  ?— in  God's  name  !— sir  ?" 

"  Well." 

"  The  anchors  are  working,  sir.     Shall  I  get  them  inboard  ?'' 

"  Strike  nothing,  and  stir  nothing,  but  lash  everything.  The 
wind  rises,  but  it  has  not  got  up  to  my  table-lands  yet.  Quick, 
and  see  to  it. — By  masts  and  keels  !  he  takes  me  for  the  hunch- 
backed skipper  of  some  coasting  smack.  Send  down  my  main- 
top-sail yard  !  Ho,  gluepots  !  Loftiest  trucks  were  made  for 
wildest  winds,  and  this  brain-truck  of  mine  now  sails  amid  the 
cloud-scud.  Shall  I  strike  that  ?  Oh,  none  but  cowards  send 
down  their  brain-trucks  in  tempest  time.  What  a  hooroosh 
aloft  there  !  I  would  e'en  take  it  for  sublime,  did  I  not  know 
that  the  colic  is  a  noisy  malady.  Oh,  take  medicine,  take 
medicine !" 


CHAPTER  CXXI. 

MIDNIGHT. THE    FORECASTLE    BULWARKS. 

Stubb  and  Flask  mounted  on  them,  and  passing  additional 
lashings  over  the  anchors  there  hanging. 

"  No,  Stubb ;  you  may  pound  that  knot  there  as  much  as 
you  please,  but  you  will  never  pound  into  me  what  you  were 
just  now  saying.  And  how  long  ago  is  it  since  you  said  the 
very  contrary  ?  Didn't  you  once  say  that  whatever  ship  Ahab 
sails  in,  that  ship  should  pay  something  extra  on  its  insurance 
policy,  just  as  though  it  were  loaded  with  powder  barrels  aft 
and  boxes  of  lucifers  forward?  Stop,  now;  didn't  you  say 
so?" 

"  Well,  suppose  I  did  ?  What  then  ?  I've  part  changed  my 
desh  since  that  time,  why  not  my  mind  ?  Besides,  supposing 
we  are  loaded  with  powder  barrels  aft  and  lucifers  forward; 


5(54  MIDNIGHT. 


how  the  devil  could  the  lucifers  get  afire  in  this  drenching  spray- 
here  ?  Why,  my  little  man,  you  have  pretty  red  hair,  but  you 
couldn't  get  afire  now.  Shake  yourself;  you're  Aquarius,  or 
the  water-hearer,  Flask  ;  might  fill  pitchers  at  your  coat  collar. 
Don't  you  see,  then,  that  for  these  extra  risks  the  Marine  In- 
surance companies  have  extra  guarantees  ?  Here  are  hydrants, 
Flask.  But  hark,  again,  and  I'll  answer  ye  the  other  thing. 
First  take  your  leg  off  from  the  crown  of  the  anchor  here,  though, 
so  I  can  pass  the  rope ;  now  listen.  What's  the  mighty  differ- 
ence between  holding  a  mast's  lightning-rod  in  the  storm,  and 
standing  close  by  a  mast  that  hasn't  got  any  lightning-rod  at 
all  in  a  storm  ?  Don't  you  see,  you  timber-head,  that  no  harm 
can  come  to  theh  older  of  the  rod,  unless  the  mast  is  first  struck  ? 
What  are  you  talking  about,  then  ?  Not  one  ship  in  a  hundred 
carries  rods,  and  Ahab, — aye,  man,  and  all  of  us, — were  in  no 
more  danger  then,  in  my  poor  opinion,  than  all  the  crews  in  ten 
thousand  ships  now  sailing  the  seas.  Why,  you  King-Post,  you, 
I  suppose  you  would  have  every  man  in  the  world  go  about 
with  a  small  lightning-rod  running  up  the  corner  of  his  hat, 
like  a  militia  officer's  skewered  feather,  and  trailing  behind  like 
his  sash.  Why  don't  ye  be  sensible,  Flask  ?  it's  easy  to  be  sensi- 
ble ;  why  don't  ye,  then  ?  any  man  with  half  an  eye  can  be 
sensible." 

"  I  don't  know  that,  Stubb.  You  sometimes  find  it  rather 
hard." 

"  Yes,  when  a  fellow's  soaked  through,  it's  hard  to  be  sensi- 
ble, that's  a  fact.  And  I  am  about  drenched  with  this  spray. 
Never  mind  ;  catch  the  turn  there,  and  pass  it.  Seems  to  me 
we  are  lashing  down  these  anchors  now  as  if  they  were  never 
going  to  be  used  again.  Tying  these  two  anchors  here,  Flask, 
seems  like  tying  a  man's  hands  behind  him.  And  what  big 
generous  hands  they  are,  to  be  sure.  These  are  your  iron  fists, 
hey  ?  What  a  hold  they  have,  too !  I  wonder,  Flask,  whether 
the  world  is  anchored  anywhere  ;  if  she  is,  she  swings  with  an 


THE    MUSKET.  565 


uncommon  long  cable,  though.  There,  hammer  that  knot 
down,  and  we've  done.  So  ;  next  to  touching  land,  lighting  on 
deck  is  the  most  satisfactoiy.  I  say,  just  wring  out  my  jacket 
skirts,  will  ye  ?  Thank  ye.  They  laugh  at  long-togs  so,  Flask ; 
but  seems  to  me,  a  long  tailed  coat  ought  always  to  be  worn  in  all 
storms  afloat.  The  tails  tapering  down  that  way,  serve  to  carry 
off  the  water,  d'ye  see.  Same  with  cocked  hats ;  the  cocks  form 
gable-end  eave-troughs,  Flask.  No  more  monke}^-jackets  and 
tarpaulins  for  me ;  I  must  mount  a  swallow-tail,  and  drive  down 
a  beaver  ;  so.  Halloa  !  whew !  there  goes  my  tarpaulin  over- 
board ;  Lord,  Lord,  that  the  winds  that  come  from  heaven  should 
be  so  unmannerly !     This  is  a  nasty  night,  lad." 


CHAPTER  CXXH. 

MIDNIGHT   ALOFT. THUNDER   AND    LIGHTNING. 

The  Main-top-sail  yard. — Tashtego  passing  new  lashings 
around  it. 

"Um,  urn,  um,  Stop  that  thunder!  Plenty  too  much 
thunder  up  here.  What's  the  use  of  thunder?  Um,  um,  um. 
We  don't  want  thunder ;  we  want  rum ;  give  us  a  glass  of  rum. 
Um,  um,  um !" 


CHAPTER  CXXIH. 

THE    MUSKET. 


During  the  most  violent  shocks  of  the  Typhoon,  the  man  at 
the  Pequod's  jaw-bone  tiller  had  several  times  been  reelingly 
hurled  to  the  deck  by  its  spasmodic  motions,  even  though  pre- 


566  THE    MUSKET. 


venter  tackles  had  been  attached  to  it — for  they  were  slack — 
because  some  play  to  the  tiller  was  indispensable. 

In  a  severe  gale  like  this,  while  the  ship  is  but  a  tossed  shuttle- 
cock to  the  blast,  it  is  by  no  means  uncommon  to  see  the  needles 
in  the  compasses,  at  intervals,  go  round  and  round.  It  was 
thus  with  the  Pequod's ;  at  almost  every  shock  the  helmsman 
had  not  failed  to  notice  the  whirling  velocity  with  which  they 
revolved  upon  the  cards ;  it  is  a  sight  that  hardly  any  one  can 
behold  without  some  sort  of  unwonted  emotion. 

Some  hours  after  midnight,  the  Typhoon  abated  so  much,  that 
through  the  strenuous  exertions  of  Starbuck  and  Stubb — one 
engaged  forward  and  the  other  aft — the  shivered  remnants  of 
the  jib  and  fore  and  main-top-sails  were  cut  adrift  from  the  spars, 
and  went  eddying  away  to  leeward,  like  the  feathers  of  an  alba- 
tross, which  sometimes  are  cast  to  the  winds  when  that  storm- 
tossed  bird  is  on  the  wing. 

The  three  corresponding  new  sails  were  now  bent  and  reefed, 
and  a  storm-trysail  was  set  further  aft ;  so  that  the  ship  soon 
went  through  the  water  with  some  precision  again ;  and  the 
course — for  the  present,  East-south-east — which  he  was  to  steer, 
if  practicable,  was  once  more  given  to  the  helmsman.  For 
during  the  violence  of  the  gale,  he  had  only  steered  according 
to  its  vicissitudes.  But  as  he  was  now  bringing  the  ship  as 
near  her  course  as  possible,  watching  the  compass  meanwhile, 
lo !  a  good  sign !  the  wind  seemed  coming  round  astern ;  aye, 
the  foul  breeze  became  fair ! 

Instantly  the  yards  were  squared,  to  the  lively  song  of  "  Ho  ! 
the  fair  wind  !  oh-he-yo,  cheerly,  men  /"  the  crew  singing  for 
joy,  that  so  promising  an  event  should  so  soon  have  falsified 
the  evil  portents  preceding  it. 

In  compliance  with  the  standing  order  of  his  commander — 
to  report  immediately,  and  at  any  one  of  the  twenty-four  hours, 
any  decided  change  in  the  affairs  of  the  deck, — Starbuck  had 
no  sooner  trimmed  the  yards  to  the  breeze — however  reluctantly 


THE    MUSKET.  5G7 

and  gloomily^ — than  he  mechanically  went  below  to  apprise 
Captain  Ahab  of  the  circumstance. 

Ere  knocking  at  his  state-room,  he  involuntarily  paused 
before  it  a  moment.  The  cabin  lamp — taking  long  swings  this 
way  and  that — was  burning  fitfully,  and  casting  fitful  shadows 
upon  the  old  man's  bolted  door, — a  thin  one,  with  fixed  blinds 
inserted,  in  place  of  upper  panels.  The  isolated  subterraneousness 
of  the  cabin  made  a  certain  humming  silence  to  reign  there, 
though  it  was  hooped  round  by  all  the  roar  of  the  elements. 
The  loaded  muskets  in  the  rack  were  shiningly  revealed,  as 
they  stood  upright  against  the  forward  bulkhead.  Starbuck 
was  an  honest,  upright  man ;  but  out  of  Starbuck's  heart, 
at  that  instant  when  he  saw  the  muskets,  there  strangely 
evolved  an  evil  thought;  but  so  blent  with  its  neutral  or 
good  accompaniments  that  for  the  instant  he  hardly  knew  it  for 
itself. 

"  He  would  have  shot  me  once,"  he  murmured,  "  yes,  there's 
the  very  musket  that  he  pointed  at  me ; — that  one  with  the  stud- 
ded stock ;  let  me  touch  it — lift  it.  Strange,  that  I,  who  have  han- 
dled so  many  deadly  lances,  strange,  that  I  should  shake  so  now. 
Loaded  ?  I  must  see.  Aye,  aye ;  and  powder  in  the  pan ; — that's 
not  good.  Best  spill  it  ? — wait.  I'll  cure  myself  of  this.  I'll  hold 
the  musket  boldly  while  I  think. — I  come  to  report  a  fair  wind 
to  him.  But  how  fair  ?  Fair  for  death  and  doom, — that's  fair 
for  Moby  Dick.  It's  a  fair  wind  that's  only  fair  for  that 
accursed  fish. — The  very  tube  he  pointed  at  me  ! — the  very 
one ;  this  one — I  hold  it  here ;  he  would  have  killed  me 
with  the  very  thing  I  handle  now. — Aye  and  he  would  fain 
kill  all  his  crew.  Does  he  not  say  he  will  not  strike  his  spars 
to  any  gale  ?  Has  he  not  dashed  his  heavenly  quadrant  ?  and 
in  these  same  perilous  seas,  gropes  he  not  his  way  by  mere 
dead  reckoning  of  the  error-abounding  log  ?  and  in  this  very 
Typhoon,  did  he  not  swear  that  he  would  have  no  lightning- 
rods?     But   shall    this   crazed   old   man   be  tamely   suffered 


568  THE    MUSKET. 

to  drag  a  whole  ship's  company  down  to  doom  with  him  ? 
— Yes,  it  would  make  him  the  wilful  murderer  of  thirty 
men  and  more,  if  this  ship  come  to  any  deadly  harm ;  and  come 
to  deadly  harm,  my  soul  swears  this  ship  will,  if  Ahab  have  his 
way.  If,  then,  he  were  this  instant — put  aside,  that  crime  would 
not  he  his.  Ha !  is  he  muttering  in  his  sleep  ?  Yes,  just  there, 
— in  there,  he's  sleeping.  Sleeping  ?  aye,  but  still  alive,  and 
soon  awake  again.  I  can't  withstand  thee,  then,  old  man. 
Not  reasoning;  not  remonstrance;  not  entreaty  wilt  thou 
hearken  to ;  all  this  thou  scornest.  Flat  obedience  to  thy  own 
flat  commands,  this  is  all  thou  breathest.  Aye,  and  say'st  the 
men  have  vow'd  thy  vow ;  say'st  all  of  us  are  Ahabs.  Great 
God  forbid ! — But  is  there  no  other  way  ?  no  lawful  way  ? — 
Make  him  a  prisoner  to  be  taken  home  ?  What !  hope  to  wrest 
this  old  man's  living  power  from  his  own  living  hands  ?  Only 
a  fool  would  try  it.  Say  he  were  pinioned  even ;  knotted  all 
over  with  ropes  and  hawsers ;  chained  down  to  ring-bolts  on 
this  cabin  floor ;  he  would  be  more  hideous  than  a  caged  tiger, 
then.  I  could  not  endure  the  sight ;  could  not  possibly  fly  his 
howlings ;  all  comfort,  sleep  itself,  inestimable  reason  would 
leave  me  on  the  long  intolerable  voyage.  What,  then,  remains  ? 
The  land  is  hundreds  of  leagues  away,  and  locked  Japan  the 
nearest.  I  stand  alone  here  upon  an  open  sea,  with  two  oceans 
and  a  whole  continent  between  me  and  law. — Aye,  aye,  'tis  so. 
■ — Is  heaven  a  murderer  when  its  lightning  strikes  a  would-be 
murderer  in  his  bed,  tindering  sheets  and  skin  together  ? — And 

would  I  be  a  murderer,  then,  if" and  slowly,  stealthily, 

and  half  sideways  looking,  he  placed  the  loaded  musket's  end 
against  the  door. 

"On  this  level,  Ahab's  hammock  swings  within;  his  head 
this  way.  A  touch,  and  Starbuck  may  survive  to  hug  his  wife 
and  child  again. — Oh  Mary !  Mary  ! — boy  !  boy !  boy ! — But 
if  I  wake  thee  not  to  death,  old  man,  who  can  tell  to  what 
unsounded  deeps  Starbuck's  body  this  day  week  may  sink,  with 


THE    NEEDLE.  569 


all  the  crew !     Great  God,  -where   art  thou  ?     Shall  I  ?    shall 

I? The  wind  has  gone   down   and  shifted,  sir;  the 

fore  and  main  topsails  are  reefed  and  set;  she  heads  her 
course ." 

"  Stern  all !     Oh  Moby  Dick,  I  clutch  thy  heart  at  last !" 

Such  were  the  sounds  that  now  came  hurtling  from  out  the 
old  man's  tormented  sleep,  as  if  Starbuck's  voice  had  caused  the 
long  dumb  dream  to  speak. 

The  yet  levelled  musket  shook  like  a  drunkard's  arm  against 
the  panel ;  Starbuck  seemed  wrestling  with  an  angel ;  but  turn- 
ing from  the  door,  he  placed  the  death-tube  in  its  rack,  and  left 
the  place. 

"He's  too  sound  asleep,  Mr.  Stubb;  go  thou  down,  and 
wake  him,  and  tell  him.  I  must  see  to  the  deck  here.  Thou 
know'st  what  to  say." 


CHAPTER  CXXIV. 

THE    NEEDLE. 

Next  morning  the  not-yet-subsided  sea  rolled  in  long  slow 
billows  of  mighty  bulk,  and  striving  in  the  Pequod's  gurgling 
track,  pushed  her  on  like  giants'  palms  outspread.  The  strong, 
unstaggering  breeze  abounded  so,  that  sky  and  air  seemed  vast 
outbellying  sails;  the  whole  world  boomed  before  the  wind. 
Muffled  in  the  full  morning  light,  the  invisible  sun  was  only 
known  by  the  spread  intensity  of  his  place ;  where  his  bayonet 
rays  moved  on  in  stacks.  Emblazonings,  as  of  crowned  Baby- 
lonian kings  and  queens,  reigned  over  everything.  The  sea  was 
as  a  crucible  of  molten  gold,  that  bubblingly  leaps  with  light 
and  heat. 

Long  maintaining  an  enchanted  silence,  Ahab  stood  apart ; 
and  every  time  the  tetering  ship  loweringly  pitched  down  her 


570  THE    NEEDLE. 


bowsprit,  he  turned  to  eye  the  bright  sun's  rays  produced 
ahead ;  and  when  she  profoundly  settled  by  the  stern,  he 
turned  behind,  and  saw  the  sun's  rearward  place,  and  how  the 
same  yellow  rays  were  blending  with  his  undeviating  wake. 

"  Ha,  ha,  my  ship  !  thou  mightest  well  be  taken  now  for  the 
sea-chariot  of  the  sun.  Ho,  ho  !  all  ye  nations  before  my  prow, 
I  bring  the  sun  to  ye  !  Yoke  on  the  further  billows  ;  hallo ! 
a  tandem,  I  drive  the  sea !" 

But  suddenly  reined  back  by  some  counter  thought,  he  hur- 
ried towards  the  helm,  huskily  demanding  how  the  ship  was 
heading. 

"East-sou-east,  sir,"  said  the  frightened  steersman. 

"  Thou  liest !"  smiting  him  with  his  clenched  fist.  "  Heading 
East  at  this  hour  in  the  morning,  and  the  sun  astern  ?" 

Upon  this  every  soul  was  confounded ;  for  the  phenomenon 
just  then  observed  by  Ahab  had  unaccountably  escaped  every 
one  else ;  but  its  veiy  blinding  palpableness  must  have  been 
the  cause. 

Thrusting  his  head  half  way  into  the  binnacle,  Ahab  caught 
one  glimpse  of  the  compasses  ;  his  uplifted  arm  slowly  fell ;  for 
a  moment  he  almost  seemed  to  stagger.  Standing  behind  him 
Starbuck  looked,  and  lo  !  the  two  compasses  pointed  East,  and 
the  Pequod  was  as  infallibly  going  West. 

But  ere  the  first  wild  alarm  could  get  out  abroad  among  the 
crew,  the  old  man  with  a  rigid  laugh  exclaimed,  "  I  have  it ! 
It  has  happened  before.  Mr.  Starbuck,  last  night's  thunder 
turned  our  compasses — that's  all.  Thou  hast  before  now  heard 
of  such  a  thing,  I  take  it." 

"  Aye ;  but  never  before  has  it  happened  to  me,  sir,"  said 
the  pale  mate,  gloomily. 

Here,  it  must  needs  be  said,  that  accidents  like  this  have  in 
more  than  one  case  occurred  to  ships  in  violent  storms.  The 
magnetic  energy,  as  developed  in  the  mariner's  needle,  is,  as  all 
know,  essentially  one  with  the  electricity  beheld  in  heaven ; 


THE    NEEDLE.  571 


hence  it  is  not  to  be  much  marvelled  at,  that  such  things  should 
be.  In  instances  where  the  lightning  has  actually  struck  the 
vessel,  so  as  to  smite  down  some  of  the  spars  and  rigging,  the 
effect  upon  the  needle  has  at  times  been  still  more  fatal ;  all  its 
loadstone  virtue  being  annihilated,  so  that  the  before  magnetic 
steel  was  of  no  more  use  than  an  old  wife's  knitting  needle. 
But  in  either  case,  the  needle  never  again,  of  itself,  recovers  the 
original  virtue  thus  marred  or  lost ;  and  if  the  binnacle  com- 
passes be  affected,  the  same  fate  reaches  all  the  others  that  may 
be  in  the  ship ;  even  were  the  lowermost  one  inserted  into  the 
kelson. 

Deliberately  standing  before  the  binnacle,  and  eyeing  the 
transported  compasses,  the  old  man,  with  the  sharp  of  his 
extended  hand,  now  took  the  precise  bearing  of  the  sun,  and 
satisfied  that  the  needles  were  exactly  inverted,  shouted  out  his 
orders  for  the  ship's  course  to  be  changed  accordingly.  The 
yards  were  hard  up ;  and  once  more  the  Pequod  thrust  her 
undaunted  bows  into  the  opposing  wind,  for  the  supposed 
fair  one  had  only  been  juggling  her. 

Meanwhile,  whatever  were  his  own  secret  thoughts,  Starbuck 
said  nothing,  but  quietly  he  issued  all  requisite  orders ;  while 
Stubb  and  Flask — who  in  some  small  degree  seemed  then  to 
be  sharing  his  feelings — likewise  unmurmuringly  acquiesced.  As 
for  the  men,  though  some  of  them  lowly  rumbled,  their  fear  of 
Ahab  was  greater  than  their  fear  of  Fate.  But  as  ever  before, 
the  pagan  harpooneers  remained  almost  wholly  unimpressed ; 
or  if  impressed,  it  was  only  with  a  certain  magnetism  shot  into 
their  congenial  hearts  from  inflexible  Ahab's. 

For  a  space  the  old  man  walked  the  deck  in  rolling  reveries. 
But  chancing  to  slip  with  his  ivory  heel,  he  saw  the  crushed 
copper  sight-tubes  of  the  quadrant  he  had  the  clay  before 
dashed  to  the  deck. 

"  Thou  poor,  proud  heaven-gazer  and  sun's  pilot !  yesterday 
i  wrecked  thee,  and  to-day  the  compasses  would  feign  have 


572  THE    NEEDLE, 


wrecked  me.  So,  so.  But  Ahab  is  lord  over  the  level  load- 
stone yet.  Mr.  Starbuck — a  lance  without  the  pole ;  a  top- 
maul,  and  the  smallest  of  the  sail-maker's  needles.     Quick  !" 

Accessory,  perhaps,  to  the  impulse  dictating  the  thing  he  was 
now  about  to  do,  were  certain  prudential  motives,  whose  ob- 
ject might  have  been  to  revive  the  spirits  of  his  crew  by  a 
stroke  of  his  subtile  skill,  in  a  matter  so  wondrous  as  that  of 
the  inverted  compasses.  Besides,  the  old  man  well  knew  that 
to  steer  by  transpointed  needles,  though  clumsily  practicable, 
was  not  a  thing  to  be  passed  over  by  superstitious  sailors,  with- 
out some  shudderings  and  evil  portents. 

"  Men,"  said  he,  steadily  turning  upon  the  crew,  as  the  mate 
handed  him  the  things  he  had  demanded,  "my  men,  the 
thunder  turned  old  Ahab's  needles ;  but  out  of  this  bit  of 
steel  Ahab  can  make  one  of  his  own,  that  will  point  as  true  as 
any." 

Abashed  glances  of  servile  wonder  were  exchanged  by 
the  sailors,  as  this  was  said ;  and  with  fascinated  eyes  they 
awaited  whatever  magic  might  follow.  But  Starbuck  looked 
away. 

With  a  blow  from  the  top-maul  Ahab  knocked  off  the  steel 
head  of  the  lance,  and  then  handing  to  the  mate  the  long  iron 
rod  remaining,  bade  him  hold  it  upright,  without  its  touching 
the  deck.  Then,  with  the  maul,  after  repeatedly  smiting  the  upper 
end  of  this  iron  rod,  he  placed  the  blunted  needle  endwise  on  the 
top  of  it,  and  less  strongly  hammered  that,  several  times,  the 
mate  still  holding  the  rod  as  before.  Then  going  through  some 
small  strange  motions  with  it — whether  indispensable  to  the 
magnetizing  of  the  steel,  or  merely  intended  to  augment  the 
awe  of  the  crew,  is  uncertain — he  called  for  linen  thread  ;  and 
moving  to  the  binnacle,  slipped  out  the  two  reversed  needles 
there,  and  horizontally  suspended  the  sail-needle  by  its  middle, 
over  one  of  the  compass-cards.  At  first,  the  steel  went  round 
and  round,  quivering  and  vibrating  at  either  end ;  but  at  last 


THE    LOG    AND    LINE.  573 


it  settled  to  its  place,  when  Ahab,  who  had  been  intently 
watching  for  this  result,  stepped  frankly  back  from  the  binnacle, 
and  pointing  his  stretched  arm  towards  it,  exclaimed, — "  Look 
ye,  for  yourselves,  if  Ahab  be  not  lord  of  the  level  load- 
stone !     The  sun  is  East,  and  that  compass  swears  it !" 

One  after  another  they  peered  in,  for  nothing  but  their  own 
eyes  could  persuade  such  ignorance  as  theirs,  and  one  after 
another  they  slunk  away. 

In  his  fiery  eyes  of  scorn  and  triumph,  you  then  saw  Ahab 
in  all  his  fatal  pride. 


CHAPTER  CXXV. 

THE    LOG    AND    LINE. 

While  now  the  fated  Pequod  had  been  so  long  afloat  this 
voyage,  the  log  and  line  had  but  veiy  seldom  been  in  use. 
Owing  to  a  confident  reliance  upon  other  means  of  determining 
the  vessel's  place,  some  merchantmen,  and  many  whalemen, 
especially  when  cruising,  wholly  neglect  to  heave  the  log ; 
.  though  at  the  same  time,  and  frequently  more  for  form's  sake 
than  anything  else,  regularly  putting  down  upon  the  customary 
slate  the  course  steered  by  the  ship,  as  well  as  the  presumed 
average  rate  of  progression  every  hour.  It  had  been  thus  with 
the  Pequod.  The  wooden  reel  and  angular  log  attached  hung, 
long  untouched,  just  beneath  the  railing  of  the  after  bulwarks. 
Rains  and  spray  had  damped  it ;  sun  and  wind  had  warped  it ; 
all  the  elements  had  combined  to  rot  a  thing  that  hung  so  idly. 
But  heedless  of  all  this,  his  mood  seized  Ahab,  as  he  happened 
to  glance  upon  the  reel,  not  many  hours  after  the  magnet 
scene,  and  he  remembered  how  his  quadrant  was  no  more,  and 
recalled  his  frantic  oath  about  the  level  log  and  line.  The 
ship  was  sailing  plungingly  ;  astern  the  billows  rolled  in  riots. 


574  THE    LOG    AND    LINE. 

"  Forward,  there  !     Heave  the  log !" 

Two  seamen  came.  The  golden-hued  Tahitian  and  the 
grizzly  Manxman.     "  Take  the  reel,  one  of  ye,  I'll  heave." 

They  went  towards  the  extreme  stern,  on  the  ship's  lee  side, 
where  the  deck,  with  the  oblique  energy  of  the  wind,  was  now 
almost  dipping  into  the  creamy,  sidelong-rushing  sea. 

The  Manxman  took  the  reel,  and  holding  it  high  up,  by  the 
projecting  handle-ends  of  the  spindle,  round  which  the  spool 
of  line  revolved,  so  stood  with  the  angular  log  hanging  down- 
wards, till  Ahab  advanced  to  him. 

Ahab  stood  before  him,  and  was  lightly  unwinding  some 
thirty  or  forty  turns  to  form  a  preliminary  hand-coil  to  toss 
overboard,  when  the  old  Manxman,  who  was  intently  eyeing 
both  him  and  the  line,  made  bold  to  speak. 

"  Sir,  I  mistrust  it ;  this  line  looks  far  gone,  long  heat  and 
wet  have  spoiled  it.'' 

"  'Twill  hold,  old  gentleman.  Long  heat  and  wet,  have  they 
spoiled  thee  ?  Thou  seem'st  to  hold.  Or,  truer  perhaps,  life 
holds  thee  ;  not  thou  it." 

"  I  hold  the  spool,  sir.  But  just  as  my  captain  says.  With 
these  grey  hairs  of  mine  'tis  not  worth  while  disputing, 
'specially  with  a  superior,  who'll  ne'er  confess." 

"  What's  that  ?  There  now's  a  patched  professor  in  Queen 
Nature's  granite-founded  College ;  but  methinks  he's  too  sub- 
servient.    Where  wert  thou  born  ?" 

"  In  the  little  rocky  Isle  of  Man,  sir." 

"Excellent !     Thou'st  hit  the  world  by  that." 

"  I  know  not,  sir,  but  I  was  born  there." 

"  In  the  Isle  of  Man,  hey  ?  Well,  the  other  way,  it's  good. 
Here's  a  man  from  Man ;  a  man  born  in  once  independent 
Man,  and  now  unmanned  of  Man ;  which  is  sucked  in — by 
what?  Up  with  the  reel !  The  dead,  blind  wall  butts  all 
inquiring  heads  at  last.     Up  with  it !     So." 

The  log  was  heaved.     The  loose  coils  rapidly  straightened 


THELOGANDLINE.  575 

out  in  a  long  dragging  line  astern,  and  then,  instantly,  the  reel 
began  to  whirl.  In  turn,  jerkingly  raised  and  lowered  by  the 
rolling  billows,  the  towing  resistance  of  the  log  caused  the  old 
reelman  to  stagger  strangely. 

"Hold  hard!" 

Snap !  the  overstrained  line  sagged  down  in  one  long 
festoon  ;  the  tugging  log  was  gone. 

"  I  crush  the  quadrant,  the  thunder  turns  the  needles,  and 
now  the  mad  sea  parts  the  log-line.  But  Ahab  can  mend  all. 
Haul  in  here,  Tahitian  ;  reel  up,  Manxman.  And  look  ye,  let 
the  carpenter  make  another  log,  and  mend  thou  the  line.  See 
to  it." 

"  There  he  goes  now ;  to  him  nothing's  happened  ;  but  to 
me,  the  skewer  seems  loosening  out  of  the  middle  of  the  world. 
Haul  in,  haul  in,  Tahitian  !  These  lines  run  whole,  and  whirling 
out :  come  in  broken,  and  dragging  slow.  Ha,  Pip  ?  come  to 
help  ;  eh,  Pip  ?" 

"  Pip  ?  whom  call  ye  Pip  ?  Pip  jumped  from  the  whale- 
boat.  Pip's  missing.  Let's  see  now  if  ye  haven't  fished  him 
up  here,  fisherman.  It  drags  hard ;  I  guess  he's  holding  on. 
Jerk  him,  Tahiti !  Jerk  him  off;  we  haul  in  no  cowards  here. 
Ho !  there's  his  arm  just  breaking  water.  A  hatchet !  a 
hatchet !  cut  it  off — we  haul  in  no  cowards  here.  Captain 
Ahab  !  sir,  sir  !  here's  Pip,  trying  to  get  on  board  again." 

"  Peace,  thou  crazy  loon,"  cried  the  Manxman,  seizing  him 
by  the  arm.    "  Away  from  the  quarter-deck  !" 

"  The  greater  idiot  ever  scolds  the  lesser,"  muttered  Ahab, 
advancing.  "  Hands  off  from  that  holiness !  Where  sayest 
thou  Pip  was,  boy  1" 

"  Astern  there,  sir,  astern  !     Lo,  lo  !" 

"  And  who  art  thou,  boy  ?  I  see  not  my  reflection  in  the 
vacant  pupils  of  thy  eyes.  Oh  God !  that  man  should  be  a 
thing  for  immortal  souls  to  sieve  through !  Who  art  thou, 
boy  ?" 


576  THE    LOG    AND    LINE. 

"  Bell-boy,  sir ;  ship's-crier ;  ding,  dong,  ding  !  Pip  !  Pip  ! 
Pip  !  One  hundred  pounds  of  clay  reward  for  Pip  ;  five  feet 
high — looks  cowardly — quickest  known  by  that !  Ding,  dong, 
ding  !     Who's  seen  Pip  the  coward  ?" 

"  There  can  be  no  hearts  above  the  snow-line.  Oh,  ye  frozen 
heavens !  look  down  here.  Ye  did  beget  this  luckless  child, 
and  have  abandoned  him,  ye  creative  libertines.  Here,  boy  ; 
Ahab's  cabin  shall  be  Pip's  home  henceforth,  while  Ahab  lives. 
Thou  touchest  my  inmost  centre,  boy ;  thou  art  tied  to  me  by 
cords  woven  of  my  heart-strings.     Come,  let's  down." 

"  What's  this  ?  here's  velvet  shark-skin,"  intenting  gazing  at 
Ahab's  hand,  and  feeling  it.  "  Ah,  now,  had  poor  Pip  but  felt 
so  kind  a  thing  as  this,  perhaps  he  had  ne'er  been  lost !  This 
seems  to  me,  sir,  as  a  man-rope ;  something  that  weak  souls 
may  hold  by.  Oh,  sir,  let  old  Perth  now  come  and  rivet 
these  two  hands  together  ;  the  black  one  with  the  white,  for  I 
will  not  let  this  go." 

"  Oh,  boy,  nor  will  I  thee,  unless  I  should  thereby  drag  thee 
to  worse  horrors  than  are  here.  Come,  then,  to  my  cabin. 
Lo !  ye  believers  in  gods  all  goodness,  and  in  man  all  ill,  lo 
you  !  see  the  omniscient  gods  oblivious  of  suffering  man  ;  and 
man,  though  idiotic,  and  knowing  not  what  he  does,  yet  full  of 
the  sweet  things  of  love  and  gratitude.  Come !  I  feel  prouder 
leading  thee  by  thy  black  hand,  than  though  I  grasped  an 
Emperor's !" 

"  There  go  two  daft  ones  now,"  muttered  the  old  Manxman. 
"  One  daft  with  strength,  the  other  daft  with  weakness.  But 
here's  the  end  of  the  rotten  line — all  dripping,  too.  Mend  it, 
eh  ?  I  think  we  had  best  have  a  new  line  altogether.  I'll  see 
Mr.  Stubb  about  it." 


THE    LIFE-BUOY.  577 


CHAPTER  CXXVI. 

THE    LIFE-BUOY.  . 

f 

Steering  now  south-eastward  by  Ahab's  levelled  steel,  and 
her  progress  solely  determined  by  Ahab's  level  log  and  line  ;  the 
Pequod  held  on  her  path  towards  the  Equator.  Making  so  long 
a  passage  through  such  unfrequented  waters,  descrying  no  ships, 
and  ere  long,  sideways  impelled  by  unvarying  trade  winds,  over 
waves  monotonously  mild ;  all  these  seemed  the  strange  calm 
things  preluding  some  riotous  and  desperate  scene. 

At  last,  when  the  ship  drew  near  to  the  outskirts,  as  it  were, 
of  the  Equatorial  fishing-ground,  and  in  the  deep  darkness  that 
goes  before  the  dawn,  was  sailing  by  a  cluster  of  rocky  islets ; 
the  watch — then  headed  by  Flask — was  startled  by  a  cry  so 
plaintively  wild  and  unearthly — like  half-articulated  wailings  of 
the  ghosts  of  all  Herod's  murdered  Innocents — that  one  and 
all,  they  started  from  their  reveries,  and  for  the  space  of  some 
moments  stood,  or  sat,  or  leaned  all  transfixedly  listening,  like 
the  carved  Roman  slave,  while  that  wild  cry  remained  within 
hearing.  The  Christian  or  civilized  part  of  the  crew  said  it 
was  mermaids,  and  shuddered ;  but  the  pagan  harpooneers 
remained  unappalled.  Yet  the  grey  Manxman — the  oldest 
mariner  of  all — declared  that  the  wild  thrilling  sounds  that  were 
heard,  were  the  voices  of  newly  drowned  men  in  the  sea. 

Below  in  his  hammock,  Ahab  did  not  hear  of  this  till  grey 
dawn,  when  he  came  to  the  deck  ;  it  was  then  recounted  to  him 
by  Flask,  not  unaccompanied  with  hinted  dark  meanings.  He 
hollowly  laughed,  and  thus  explained  the  wonder. 

Those  rocky  islands  the  ship  had  passed  were  the  resort  of 
great  numbers  of  seals,  and  some  young  seals  that  had  lost  their 

25 


578  THE    LIFE-BUOY. 

dams,  or  some  dams  that  had  lost  their  cubs,  must  have  risen 
nigh  the  ship  and  kept  company  with  her,  crying  and  sobbing 
with  their  human  sort  of  wail.  But  this  only  the  more  affected 
some  of  them,  because  most  mariners  cherish  a  very  superstitious 
feeling  about  seals,  arising  not  only  from  their  peculiar  tones 
when  in  distress,  but  also  from  the  human  look  of  their  round 
heads  and  semi-intelligent  faces,  seen  peeringly  uprising  from  the 
water  alongside.  In  the  sea,  under  certain  circumstances,  seals 
have  more  than  once  been  mistaken  for  men. 

But  the  bodings  of  the  crew  were  destined  to  receive  a  most 
plausible  confirmation  in  the  fate  of  one  of  their  number  that 
morning.  At  sun-rise  this  man  went  from  his  hammock  to  his 
mast-head  at  the  fore ;  and  whether  it  was  that  he  was  not  yet 
half  waked  from  his  sleep  (for  sailors  sometimes  go  aloft  in 
a  transition  state),  whether  it  was  thus  with  the  man,  there  is 
now  no  telling ;  but,  be  that  as  it  may,  he  had  not  been  long  at 
his  perch,  when  a  cry  was  heard — a  cry  and  a  rushing — and 
looking  up,  they  saw  a  falling  phantom  in  the  air ;  and  looking 
down,  a  little  tossed  heap  of  white  bubbles  in  the  blue  of  the 
sea. 

The  life-buoy — a  long  slender  cask — was  dropped  from  the 
stern,  where  it  always  hung  obedient  to  a  cunning  spring ;  but 
no  hand  rose  to  seize  it,  and  the  sun  having  long  beat  upon  this 
cask  it  had  shrunken,  so  that  it  slowly  filled,  and  the  parched 
wood  also  filled  at  its  every  pore ;  and  the  studded  iron-bound 
cask  followed  the  sailor  to  the  bottom,  as  if  to  yield  him  his 
pillow,  though  in  sooth  but  a  hard  one. 

And  thus  the  first  man  of  the  Pequod  that  mounted  the  mast 
to  look  out  for  the  White  Whale,  on  the  White  Whale's  own 
peculiar  groiind ;  that  man  was  swallowed  up  in  the  deep.  But 
few,  perhaps,  thought  of  that  at  the  time.  Indeed,  in  some 
sort,  they  were  not  grieved  at  this  event,  at  least  as  a  portent ; 
for  they  regarded  it,  not  as  a  foreshadowing  of  evil  in  the  future, 
but  as  the  fulfilment  of  an  evil  already  presaged.     They  de- 


THE    LIFE-BUOY.  579 

clared  that  now  they  knew  the  reason  of  those  wild  shrieks  they 
had  heard  the  night  before.  But  again  the  old  Manxman  said 
nay. 

The  lost  life-buoy  was  now  to  be  replaced ;  Starbuck  was 
directed  to  see  to  it ;  but  as  no  cask  of  sufficient  lightness  could 
be  found,  and  as  in  the  feverish  eagerness  of  what  seemed 
the  approaching  crisis  of  the  voyage,  all  hands  were  impatient 
of  any  toil  but  what  was  directly  connected  with  its  final  end, 
whatever  that  might  prove  to  be  ;  therefore,  they  were  going  to 
leave  the  ship's  stern  unprovided  with  a  buoy,  when  by  certain 
strange  signs  and  inuendoes  Queequeg  hinted  a  hint  concern- 
ing his  coffin. 

"  A  life-buoy  of  a  coffin !"  cried  Starbuck,  starting. 

"Rather  queer,  that,  I  should  say,"  said  Stubb. 

"  It  will  make  a  good  enough  one,"  said  Flask,  "  the  carpenter 
here  can  arrange  it  easily." 

"  Bring  it  up ;  there's  nothing  else  for  it,"  said  Starbuck, 
after  a  melancholy  pause.  "  Eig  it,  carpenter ;  do  not  look  at 
me  so — the  coffin,  I  mean.     Dost  thou  hear  me  ?     Rig  it." 

"And  shall  I  nail  down  the  lid,  sir  ?"  moving  his  hand  as  with 
a  hammer. 

"Aye." 

"  And  shall  I  caulk  the  seams,  sir  ?"  moving  his  hand  as  with  a 
caulking-iron. 

"  Aye." 

"  And  shall  I  then  pay  over  the  same  with  pitch,  sir  ?"  mov- 
ing his  hand  as  with  a  pitch-pot. 

"  Away !  what  possesses  thee  to  this  ?  Make  a  life-buoy  of 
the  coffin,  and  no  more. — Mr.  Stubb,  Mr.  Flask,  come  forward 
with  me." 

"  He  goes  off  in  a  huff.  The  whole  he  can  endure ;  at  the 
parts  he  baulks.  Now  I  don't  like  this.  I  make  a  leg  for  Cap- 
tain Ahab,  and  he  wears  it  like  a  gentleman ;  but  I  make  a 
bandbox  for  Queequeg,  and  he  wont  put  his  head  into  it.     Are 


580  THE    LIFE-BUOY. 

all  my  pains  to  go  for  nothing  with  that  coffin  ?  And  now  I'm 
ordered  to  make  a  life-buoy  of  it.  It's  like  turning  an  old  coat ; 
going  to  bring  the  flesh  on  the  other  side  now.  I  don't  like 
this  cobbling  sort  of  business — I  don't  like  it  at  all ;  its  undigni- 
fied ;  it's  not  my  place.  Let  tinkers'  brats  do  tinkerings ;  we 
are  their  betters.  I  like  to  take  in  hand  none  but  clean,  virgin, 
fair-and-square  mathematical  jobs,  something  that  regularly  be- 
gins at  the  beginning,  and  is  at  the  middle  when  midway,  and 
comes  to  an  end  at  the  conclusion ;  not  a  cobbler's  job,  that's 
at  an  end  in  the  middle,  and  at  the  beginning  at  the  end.  It's 
the  old  woman's  tricks  to  be  giving  cobbling  jobs.  Lord  !  what 
an  affection  all  old  women  have  for  tinkers.  I  know  an  old 
woman  of  sixty-five  who  ran  away  with  a  bald-headed  young 
tinker  once.  And  that's  the  reason  I  never  would  work  for 
lonely  widow  old  women  ashore,  when  I  kept  my  job-shop  in 
the  Vineyard  ;  they  might  have  taken  it  into  their  lonely  old 
heads  to  run  off  with  me.  But  heigh-ho  !  there  are  no  caps  at 
sea  but  snow-caps.  Let  me  see.  Nail  down  the  lid;  caulk 
the  seams ;  pay  over  the  same  with  pitch ;  batten  them  down 
tight,  and  hang  it  with  the  snap-spring  over  the  ship's  stern. 
Were  ever  such  things  done  before  with  a  coffin  ?  Some  super- 
stitious old  carpenters,  now,  would  be  tied  up  in  the  rigging, 
ere  they  would  do  the  job.  But  I'm  made  of  knotty  Aroostook 
hemlock  ;  I  don't  budge.  Cruppered  with  a  coffin  !  Sailing 
about  with  a  grave-yard  tray  !  But  never  mind.  We  workers 
in  woods  make  bridal-bedsteads  and  card-tables,  as  well  as 
coffins  and  hearses.  We  work  by  the  month,  or  by  the  job,  or 
by  the  profit ;  not  for  us  to  ask  the  why  and  wherefore  of  our 
work,  unless  it  be  too  confounded  cobbling,  and  then  we  stash  it 
if  we  can.  Hem  !  I'll  do  the  job,  now,  tenderly.  I'll  have  me 
— let's  see — how  many  in  the  ship's  company,  all  told  ?  But 
I've  forgotten.  Any  way,  I'll  have  me  thirty  separate,  Turk's- 
headed  life-lines,  each  three  feet  long  hanging  all  round  to  the 
coffin.     Then,  if  the  hull  go  down,  there'll  be  thirty  lively  fel- 


THE    DECK.  581 


lows  all  fighting  for  one  coffin,  a  sight  not  seen  very  often 
beneath  the  sun !  Come  hammer,  calking-iron,  pitch-pot,  and 
marling-spike !     Let's  to  it." 


CHAPTER  CXXVn. 

THE    DECK. 

The  coffin  laid  upon  two  line-tubs,  between  the  vice-bench  and 
the  open  hatchway  ;  the  Carpenter  calking  its  seams  ;  the 
string  of  twisted  oakum  slowly  unwinding  from  a  large  roll 
of  it  placed  in  the  bosom  of  his  frock. — Ahab  comes  slowly 
from  the  cabin-gangway,  aud  hears  Pip  following  him. 

"  Back,  lad ;  I  will  be  with  ye  again  presently.  He  goes  ! 
Not  this  hand  complies  with  my  humor  more  genially  than  that 
boy. — Middle  aisle  of  a  church  !     "What's  here  ?" 

"  Life-buoy,  sir.  Mr.  Starbuck's  orders.  Oh,  look,  sir !  Be- 
ware the  hatchway !" 

"  Thank  ye,  man.     Thy  coffin  lies  handy  to  the  vault." 
"  Sir  ?     The  hatchway  ?  oh  !     So  it  does,  sir,  so  it  does." 
"  Art  not  thou  the  leg-maker  ?     Look,  did  not  this  stump 
come  from  thy  shop  ?" 

"  I  believe  it  did,  sir ;  does  the  ferrule  stand,  sir  ?" 
"  Well  enough.     But  art  thou  not  also  the  undertaker  ?" 
"  Aye,  sir ;  I  patched  up  this  thing  here  as  a  coffin  for  Quee- 
queg;  but  they've  set  me  now  to  turning  it  into  something 
else." 

"  Then  tell  me ;  art  thou  not  an  arrant,  all-grasping,  inter- 
meddling, monopolizing,  heathenish  old  scamp,  to  be  one  day 
making  legs,  and  the  next  day  coffins  to  clap  them  in,  and  yet 
again  life-buoys  out  of  those  same  coffins  ?  Thou  art  as  un- 
principled as  the  gods,  and  as  much  of  a  jack-of-all-trades." 


582  THE    DECK 


"  But  I  do  not  mean  anything,  sir.     I  do  as  I  do." 

"  The  gods  again.  Hark  ye,  dost  thou  not  ever  sing  working 
about  a  coffin  ?  The  Titans,  they  say,  hummed  snatches  when 
chipping  out  the  craters  for  volcanoes ;  and  the  grave-digger  in 
the  play  sings,  spade  in  hand.     Dost  thou  never  ?" 

"  Sing,  sir  ?  Do  I  sing  ?  Oh,  I'm  indifferent  enough,  sir, 
for  that;  hut  the  reason  why  the  grave-digger  made  music 
must  have  been  because  there  was  none  in  his  spade,  sir.  But 
the  calking  mallet  is  full  of  it.     Hark  to  it." 

"  Aye,  and  that's  because  the  lid  there's  a  sounding-board ; 
and  what  in  all  things  makes  the  sounding-board  is  this — 
there's  naught  beneath.  And  yet,  a  coffin  with  a  body  in  it 
rings  pretty  much  the  same,  Carpenter.  Hast  thou  ever  helped 
carry  a  bier,  and  heard  the  coffin  knock  against  the  church- 
yard gate,  going  in  ?" 

"  Faith,  sir,  I've " 

"Faith?     What's  that?" 

"  Why,  faith,  sir,  it's  only  a  sort  of  exclamation  -like — that's 
all,  sir." 

"  iJm,  um ;  go  on.'' 

"  I  was  about  to  say,  sir,  that " 

"  Art  thou  a  silk-worm  ?  Dost  thou  spin  thy  own  shroud 
out  of  thyself  ?  Look  at  thy  bosom !  Despatch !  and  get 
these  traps  out  of  sight." 

"He  goes  aft.  That  was  sudden,  now;  but  squalls  come 
sudden  in  hot  latitudes.  I've  heard  that  the  Isle  of  Albemarle, 
one  of  the  Gallipagos,  is  cut  by  the  Equator  right  in  the  middle. 
Seems  to  me  some  sort  of  Equator  cuts  yon  old  man,  too,  right 
in  his  middle.  He's  always  under  the  Line — fiery  hot,  I  tell  ye  ! 
He's  looking  this  way — come,  oakum ;  quick.  Here  we  go 
again.  This  wooden  mallet  is  the  cork,  and  I'm  the  professor 
of  musical  glasses — tap,  tap  !" 

(Ahab  to  himself.) 

"  There's  a  sight !     There's  a  sound !     The  greyheaded  wood- 


THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  RACHEL.  583 

pecker  tapping  the  hollow  tree  !  Blind  and  dumb  might  well 
be  envied  now.  See  !  that  thing  rests  on  two  line-tubs,  full  of 
tow-lines.  A  most  malicious  wag,  that  fellow.  Rat-tat !  So 
man's  seconds  tick !  Oh !  how  immaterial  are  all  materials  ! 
What  things  real  are  there,  but  imponderable  thoughts  ?  Here 
now's  the  very  dreaded  symbol  of  grim  death,  by  a  mere  hap, 
made  the  expressive  sign  of  the  help  and  hope  of  most 
endangered  life.  A  life-buoy  of  a  coffin  !  Does  it  go  further  ? 
Can  it  be  that  in  some  spiritual  sense  the  coffin  is,  after  all,  but 
an  immortality -preserver  !  I'll  think  of  that.  But  no.  So  far 
gone  am  I  in  the  dark  side  of  earth,  that  its  other  side,  the 
theoretic  bright  one,  seems  but  uncertain  twilight  to  me.  Will 
ye  never  have  done,  Carpenter,  with  that  accursed  sound  ?  I 
vo  below ;  let  me  not  see  that  thing  here  when  I  return  again. 
Now,  then,  Pip,  we'll  talk  this  over ;  I  do  suck  most  wondrous 
philosophies  from  thee !  Some  unknown  conduits  from  the 
unknown  worlds  must  empty  into  thee  !" 


CHAPTER  CXXVHI. 

THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  RACHEL. 

Next  day,  a  large  ship,  the  Rachel,  was  descried,  bearing 
directly  down  upon  the  Pequod,  all  her  spars  thickly  clustering 
with  men.  At  the  time  the  Pequod  was  making  good  speed 
through  the  water ;  but  as  the  broad-winged  windward  stranger 
shot  nigh  to  her,  the  boastful  sails  all  fell  together  as  blank 
bladders  that  are  burst,  and  all  life  fled  from  the  smitten  hull. 

"  Bad  news  ;  she  brings  bad  news,"  muttered  the  old  Manx- 
man. But  ere  her  commander,  who,  with  trumpet  to  mouth, 
stood  up  in  his  boat ;  ere  he  could  hopefully  hail,  Ahab 's  voice 
was  heard. 


584  THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  RACHEL. 

"  Hast  seen  the  White  Whale  ?" 

"  Aye,  yesterday.     Have  ye  seen  a  whale-boat  adrift  ?" 

Throttling  his  joy,  Ahab  negatively  answered  this  unexpected 
question  ;  and  would  then  have  fain  boarded  the  stranger,  when 
the  stranger  captain  himself,  having  stopped  his  vessel's  way, 
was  seen  descending  her  side.  A  few  keen  pulls,  and  his  boat- 
hook  soon  clinched  the  Pequod's  main-chains,  and  he  sprang 
to  the  deck.  Immediately  he  was  recognised  by  Ahab  for  a 
Nantucketer  he  knew.     But  no  formal  salutation  was  exchanged. 

"  Where  was  he  ? — not  killed  ! — not  killed !"  cried  Ahab, 
closely  advancing.     "  How  was  it  2" 

It  seemed  that  somewhat  late  on  the  afternoon  of  the  day 
previous,  while  three  of  the  stranger's  boats  were  engaged  with 
a  shoal  of  whales,  which  had  led  them  some  four  or  five  miles 
from  the  ship  ;  and  while  they  were  yet  in  swift  chase  to  wind- 
ward, the  white  hump  and  head  of  Moby  Dick  had  suddenly 
loomed  up  out  of  the  blue  water,  not  very  far  to  leeward ; 
whereupon,  the  fourth  rigged  boat — a  reserved  one — had  been 
instantly  lowered  in  chase.  After  a  keen  sail  before  the  wind, 
this  fourth  boat — the  swiftest  keeled  of  all — seemed  to  have 
succeeded  in  fastening — at  least,  as  well  as  the  man  at  the  mast- 
head could  tell  anything  about  it.  In  the  distance  he  saw  the 
diminished  dotted  boat ;  and  then  a  swift  gleam  of  bubbling 
white  water  ;  and  after  that  nothing  more ;  whence  it  was  con- 
cluded that  the  stricken  whale  must  have  indefinitely  run  away 
with  his  pursuers,  as  often  happens.  There  was  some  appre- 
hension, but  no  positive  alarm,  as  yet.  The  recall  signals  were 
placed  in  the  rigging :  darkness  came  on ;  and  forced  to  pick  up 
her  three  far  to  windward  boats — ere  going  in  quest  of  the 
fourth  one  in  the  precisely  opposite  direction — the  ship  had  not 
only  been  necessitated  to  leave  that  boat  to  its  fate  till  near 
midnight,  but,  for  the  time,  to  increase  her  distance  from  it. 
But  the  rest  of  her  crew  being  at  last  safe  aboard,  she  crowded 
all  sail — stunsail  on  stunsail — after  the  missing  boat ;  kindling  a 


THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  RACHEL.  585 

fire  in  her  try-pots  for  a  beacon ;  and  every  other  man  aloft  on 
the  look-out.  But  though  when  she  had  thus  sailed  a  sufficient 
distance  to  gain  the  presumed  place  of  the  absent  ones  when 
last  seen  ;  though  she  then  paused  to  lower  her  spare  boats  to 
pull  all  around  her;  and  not  finding  anything,  had  again 
dashed  on ;  again  paused,  and  lowered  her  boats  ;  and  though 
she  had  thus  continued  doing  till  day  light ;  yet  not  the  least 
glimpse  of  the  missing  keel  had  been  seen. 

The  story  told,  the  stranger  Captain  immediately  went  on  to 
reveal  his  object  in  boarding  the  Pequod.  He  desired  that  ship 
to  unite  with  his  own  in  tbe  search ;  by  sailing  over  the  sea 
some  four  or  five  miles  apart,  on  parallel  lines,  and  so  sweeping 
a  double  horizon,  as  it  were. 

"  I  will  wager  something  now,"  whispered  Stubb  to  Flask, 
"  that  some  one  in  that  missing  boat  wore  off  that  Captain's 
best  coat ;  mayhap,  his  watch — he's  so  cursed  anxious  to  get  it 
back.  Who  ever  heard  of  two  pious  whale-ships  cruising  after 
one  missing  whale-boat  in  the  height  of  the  whaling  season  ? 
See,  Flask,  only  see  how  pale  he  looks — pale  in  the  very  but- 
tons of  his  eyes — look — it  wasn't  the  coat — it  must  have  been 
the—" 

"  My  boy,  my  own  boy  is  among  them.  For  God's  sake — I 
beg,  I  conjure" — here  exclaimed  the  stranger  Captain  to  Ahab, 
who  thus  far  had  but  icily  received  his  petition.  "  For  eight- 
and-forty  hours  let  me  charter  your  ship — I  will  gladly  pay  for 
it,  and  roundly  pay  for  it — if  there  be  no  other  way — for  eight- 
and-forty  hours  only — only  that — you  must,  oh,  you  must,  and 
you  shall  do  this  thing." 

"  His  son  !"  cried  Stubb,  "  oh,  it's  his  son  he's  lost !  I  take 
back  the  coat  and  watch — what  says  Ahab  ?  We  must  save 
that  boy." 

"  He's  drowned  with  the  rest  on  'em,  last  night,"  said  the  old 
Manx  sailor  standing  behind  them ;  "  I  heard ;  all  of  ye  heard 
their  spirits." 

25* 


586  THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  RACHEL. 

Now,  as  it  shortly  turned  out,  what  made  this  incident  of 
the  Rachel's  the  more  melancholy,  was  the  circumstance,  that 
not  only  was  one  of  the  Captain's  sons  among  the  number  of 
the  missing  boat's  crew  ;  but  among  the  number  of  the  other 
boat's  crews,  at  the  same  time,  but  on  the  other  hand,  separated 
from  the  ship  during  the  dark  vicissitudes  of  the  chase,  there  had 
been  still  another  son  ;  as  that  for  a  time,  the  wretched  father 
was  plunged  to  the  bottom  of  the  cruellest  perplexity  ;  which 
was  only  solved  for  him  by  his  chief  mate's  instinctively  adopt- 
ing the  ordinary  procedure  of  a  whale-ship  in  such  emergencies, 
that  is,  when  placed  between  jeopardized  but  divided  boats, 
always  to  pick  up  the  majority  first.  But  the  captain,  for  some 
unknown  constitutional  reason,  had  refrained  from  mentioning 
all  this,  and  not  till  forced  to  it  by  Ahab's  iciness  did  he  allude 
to  his  one  yet  missing  boy  ;  a  little  lad,  but  twelve  years  old, 
whose  father  with  the  earnest  but  unmisgiving  hardihood  of  a 
Nantucketer's  paternal  love,  had  thus  early  sought  to  initiate 
him  in  the  perils  and  wonders  of  a  vocation  almost  immemorially 
the  destiny  of  all  his  race.  Nor  does  it  unfrequently  occur,  that 
Nantucket  captains  will  send  a  son  of  such  tender  age  away 
from  them,  for  a  protracted  three  or  four  years'  voyage  in  some 
other  ship  than  their  own ;  so  that  their  first  knowledge  of  a 
whaleman's  career  shall  be  unenervated  by  any  chance  display 
of  a  father's  natural  but  untimely  partiality,  or  undue  appre- 
hensiveness  and  concern. 

Meantime,  now  the  stranger  was  still  beseeching  his  poor  boon 
of  Ahab ;  and  Ahab  still  stood  like  an  anvil,  receiving  every 
shock,  but  without  the  least  quivering  of  his  own. 

"  I  will  not  go,"  said  the  stranger,  "  till  you  say  aye  to  me. 
Do  to  me  as  you  would  have  me  do  to  you  in  the  like  case. 
For  you  too  have  a  boy,  Captain  Ahab — though  but  a  child, 
and  nestling  safely  at  home  now — a  child  of  your  old  age  too — 
Yes,  yes,  you  relent ;  I  see  it — run,  run,  men,  now,  and  stand  by 
to  square  in  the  yards." 


THE    CABIN.  587 


"  Avast,"  cried  Ahab — "  touch  not  a  rope-yarn  ;"  then  in  a 
voice  that  prolongingly  moulded  every  word — "  Captain  Gardi- 
ner, I  will  not  do  it.  Even  now  I  lose  time.  Good  bye,  good 
bye.  God  bless  ye,  man,  and  may  I  forgive  myself,  but  I  must 
go.  Mr.  Starbuck,  look  at  the  binnacle  watch,  and  in  three 
minutes  from  this  present  instant  warn  off  all  strangers  :  then 
brace  forward  again,  and  let  the  ship  sail  as  before." 

Hurriedly  turning,  with  averted  face,  he  descended  into  his 
cabin,  leaving  the  strange  captain  transfixed  at  this  unconditional 
and  utter  rejection  of  his  so  earnest  suit.  But  starting  from  his 
enchantment,  Gardiner  silently  hurried  to  the  side ;  more  fell 
than  stepped  into  his  boat,  and  returned  to  his  ship. 

Soon  the  two  ships  diverged  their  wakes ;  and  long  as  the 
strange  vessel  was  in  view,  she  was  seen  to  yaw  hither  and 
thither  at  every  dark  spot,  however  small,  on  the  sea.  This 
way  and  that  her  yards  were  swung  round ;  starboard  and 
larboard,  she  continued  to  tack  ;  now  she  beat  against  a  head 
sea  ;  and  again  it  pushed  her  before  it ;  while  all  the  while,  her 
masts  and  yards  were  thickly  clustered  with  men,  as  three  tall 
cherry  trees,  when  the  boys  are  cherrying  among  the  boughs. 

But  by  her  still  halting  course  and  winding,  woful  way,  you 
plainly  saw  that  this  ship  that  so  wept  with  spray,  still  remained 
without  comfort.  She  was  Rachel,  weeping  for  her  children, 
because  they  were  not. 


CHAPTER  CXXIX. 

THE    CABIK. 


(Ahab  moving  to  go  on  deck  ;  Pip  catches  him  by  the  hand  to 
follow.) 

"  Lad,  lad,  I  tell  thee  thou  must  not  follow  Ahab  now.    The 
hour  is  coming  when  Ahab  would  not  scare  thee  from  him,  yet 


588  THE    CABIN. 


would  not  have  thee  by  him.  There  is  that  in  thee,  poor  lad, 
which  I  feel  too  curing  to  rny  malady.  Like  cures  like  ;  and 
for  this  hunt,  my  malady  becomes  my  most  desired  health.  Do 
thou  abide  below  here,  where  they  shall  serve  thee,  as  if  thou 
wert  the  captain.  Aye,  lad,  thou  shalt  sit  here  in  my  own 
screwed  chair  ;  another  screw  to  it,  thou  must  be." 

"  No,  no,  no  !  ye  have  not  a  whole  body,  sir  ;  do  ye  but  use 
poor  me  for  your  one  lost  leg  ;  only  tread  upon  me,  sir  ;  I  ask 
no  more,  so  I  remain  a  part  of  ye." 

"  Oh !  spite  of  million  villains,  this  makes  me  a  bigot  in  the 
fadeless  fidelity  of  man ! — and  a  black  !  and  crazy  ! — but  me- 
thinks  like-cures-like  applies  to  him  too ;  he  grows  so  sane 
again." 

"  They  tell  me,  sir,  that  Stubb  did  once  desert  poor  little  Pip, 
whose  drowned  bones  now  show  white,  for  all  the  blackness  of 
his  living  skin.  But  I  will  never  desert  ye,  sir,  as  Stubb  did 
him.     Sir,  I  must  go  with  ye." 

"  If  thou  speakest  thus  to  me  much  more,  Ahab's  purpose 
keels  up  in  him.     I  tell  thee  no  ;  it  cannot  be." 

"  Oh  good  master,  master,  master  !" 

"  Weep  so,  and  I  will  murder  thee  !  have  a  care,  for  Ahab 
too  is  mad.  Listen,  and  thou  wilt  often  hear  my  ivory  foot  upon 
the  deck,  and  still  know  that  I  am  there.  And  now  I  quit  thee. 
Thy  hand ! — Met !  True  art  thou,  lad,  as  the  circumference 
to  its  centre.  So  :  God  for  ever  bless  thee  ;  and  if  it  come  to 
that, — God  for  ever  save  thee,  let  what  will  befall." 

[Ahab  goes  ;  Pip  steps  one  step  forward?) 

"  Here  he  this  instant  stood ;  I  stand  in  his  air, — but  I'm 
alone.  Now  were  even  poor  Pip  here  I  could  endure  it,  but 
he's  missing.  Pip  !  Pip !  Ding,  dong,  ding  !  Who's  seen  Pip  ? 
He  must  be  up  here ;  let's  try  the  door.  What  ?  neither  lock, 
nor  bolt,  nor  bar  ;  and  yet  there's  no  opening  it.  It  must  be 
the  spell ;  he  told  me  to  stay  here :  Aye,  and  told  me  this 


THE    HAT.  589 

screwed  chair  was  mine.  Here,  then,  I'll  seat  me,  against  the 
transom,  in  the  ship's  full  middle,  all  her  keel  and  her  three 
masts  before  me.  Here,  our  old  sailors  say,  in  their  black 
seventy-fours  great  admirals  sometimes  sit  at  table,  and  lord  it 
over  rows  of  captains  and  lieutenants.  Ha  !  what's  this  ?  epau- 
lets !  epaulets  !  the  epaulets  all  come  crowding  !  Pass  round  the 
decanters  ;  glad  to  see  ye  ;  fill  up,  monsieurs  !  "What  an  odd 
feeling,  now,  when  a  black  boy's  host  to  white  men  with  gold 
lace  upon  their  coats  ! — Monsieurs,  have  ye  seen  one  Pip  ? — a 
little  negro  lad,  five  feet  high,  hang-dog  look,  and  cowardly  ! 
Jumped  from  a  whale-boat  once  ; — seen  him  ?  No  !  Well 
then,  fill  up  again,  captains,  and  let's  drink  shame  upon  all 
cowards  !  I  name  no  names.  Shame  upon  them  !  Put  one 
foot  upon  the  table.  Shame  upon  all  cowards. — Hist !  above 
there,  I  hear  ivory — Oh,  master  !  master  !  I  am  indeed  down- 
hearted when  you  walk  over  me.  But  here  I'll  stay,  though 
this  stern  strikes  rocks  ;  and  they  bulge  through  ;  and  oysters 
come  to  join  me." 


CHAPTER  CXXX. 


And  now  that  at  the  proper  time  and  place,  after  so  long  and 
wide  a  preliminary  cruise,  Ahab, — all  other  whaling  waters 
swept — seemed  to  have  chased  his  foe  into  an  ocean-fold,  to  slay 
him  the  more  securely  there  ;  now,  that  he  found  himself  hard 
by  the  very  latitude  and  longitude  where  his  tormenting  wound 
had  been  inflicted  ;  now  that  a  vessel  had  been  spoken  which 
on  the  very  day  preceding  had  actually  encountered  Moby 
Dick  ; — and  now  that  all  his  successive  meetings  with  various 
ships  contrastingly  concurred  to  show  the  demoniac  indiffer- 
ence with  which   the  white  whale  tore  his  hunters,   whether 


590  THE    HAT. 

sinning  or  sinned  against ;  now  it  was  that  there  lurked  a 
something  in  the  old  man's  eyes,  which  it  was  hardly  sufferable 
for  feeble  souls  to  see.  As  the  unsetting  polar  star,  which 
through  the  livelong,  arctic,  six  months'  night  sustains  its 
piercing,  steady,  central  gaze ;  so  Ahab's  purpose  now  fixedly 
gleamed  down  upon  the  constant  midnight  of  the  gloomy  crew. 
It  domineered  above  them  so,  that  all  their  bodings,  doubts, 
misgivings,  fears,  were  fain  to  hide  beneath  their  souls,  and 
not  sprout  forth  a  single  spear  or  leaf. 

In  this  foreshadowing  interval  too,  all  humor,  forced  or  natu- 
ral, vanished.  Stubb  no  more  strove  to  raise  a  smile  ;  Starbuck 
no  more  strove  to  check  one.  Alike,  joy  and  sorrow,  hope  and 
fear,  seemed  ground  to  finest  dust,  and  powdered,  for  the  time, 
in  the  clamped  mortar  of  Ahab's  iron  soul.  Like  machines, 
they  dumbly  moved  about  the  deck,  ever  conscious  that  the  old 
man's  despot  eye  was  on  them. 

But  did  you  deeply  scan  him  in  his  more  secret  confidential 
hours  ;  when  he  thought  no  glance  but  one  was  on  him  ;  then 
you  would  have  seen  that  even  as  Ahab's  eyes  so  awed  the 
crew's,  the  inscrutable  Parsee's  glance  awed  his  ;  or  somehow, 
at  least,  in  some  wild  way,  at  times  affected  it.  Such  an  added, 
gliding  strangeness  began  to  invest  the  thin  Fedallah  now ; 
such  ceaseless  shudderings  shook  him ;  that  the  men  looked 
dubious  at  him ;  half  uncertain,  as  it  seemed,  whether  indeed 
he  were  a  mortal  substance,  or  else  a  tremulous  shadow  cast 
upon  the  deck  by  some  unseen  being's  body.  And  that  shadow 
was  always  hovering  there.  For  not  by  night,  even,  had  Fe- 
dallah ever  certainly  been  known  to  slumber,  or  go  below.  Ho 
would  stand  still  for  hours  :  but  never  sat  or  leaned  ;  his  wan 
but  wondrous  eyes  did  plainly  say — We  two  watchmen  never 
rest. 

Nor,  at  any  time,  by  night  or  day  could  the  mariners  now 
step  upon  the  deck,  unless  Ahab  was  before  them  ;  either  stand- 
ing in  his  pivot-hole,  or  exactly  pacing  the  planks  between  two 


THE    HAT.  591 

undeviatiug  limits, — the  main-mast  and  the  mizen  ;  or  else  they 
saw  him  standing  in  the  cahin-scuttle, — his  living  foot  advanced 
upon  the  deck,  as  if  to  step  ;  his  hat  slouched  heavily  over  his 
eyes ;  so  that  however  motionless  he  stood,  however  the  days 
and  nights  were  added  on,  that  he  had  not  swung  in  his  ham- 
mock ;  yet  hidden  beneath  that  slouching  hat,  they  could  never 
tell  unerringly  whether,  for  all  this,  his  eyes  were  really  closed 
at  times  :  or  whether  he  was  still  intently  scanning  them  ;  no 
matter,  though  he  stood  so  in  the  scuttle  for  a  whole  hour  on 
the  stretch,  and  the  unheeded  night-damp  gathered  in  beads  of 
dew  upon  that  stone-carved  coat  and  hat.  The  clothes  that  the 
night  had  wet,  the  next  day's  sunshine  dried  upon  him  ;  and 
so,  day  after  day,  and  night  after  night ;  he  went  no  more 
beneath  the  planks  ;  whatever  he  wanted  from  the  cabin  that 
thing  he  sent  for. 

He  ate  in  the  same  open  air  ;  that  is,  his  two  only  meals, — 
breakfast  and  dinner  :  supper  he  never  touched ;  nor  reaped 
his  beard ;  which  darkly  grew  all  gnarled,  as  unearthed  roots 
of  trees  blown  over,  which  still  grow  idly  on  at  naked  base, 
though  perished  in  the  upper  verdure.  But  though  his  whole 
life  was  now  become  one  watch  on  deck ;  and  though  the 
Parsee's  mystic  watch  was  without  intermission  as  his  own ; 
yet  these  two  never  seemed  to  speak — one  man  to  the  other — 
unless  at  long  intervals  some  passing  unmomentous  matter 
made  it  necessary.  Though  such  a  potent  spell  seemed  secretly 
to  join  the  twain ;  openly,  and  to  the  awe-struck  crew,  they 
seemed  pole-like  asunder.  If  by  day  they  chanced  to  speak 
one  word ;  by  night,  dumb  men  were  both,  so  far  as  concerned 
the  slightest  verbal  interchange.  At  times,  for  longest  hours, 
without  a  single  hail,  they  stood  far  parted  in  the  starlight ; 
Ahab  in  his  scuttle,  the  Parsee  by  the  mainmast ;  but  still 
fixedly  gazing  upon  each  other  ;  as  if  in  the  Parsee  Ahab  saw 
his  forethrown  shadow,  in  Ahab  the  Parsee  his  abandoned  sub- 
stance. 


592  THE    HAT. 

And  yet,  somehow,  did  Ahab — in  his  own  proper  self,  as 
daily,  hourly,  and  every  instant,  commandingly  revealed  to  his 
subordinates, — Ahab  seemed  an  independent  lord  ;  the  Parsee 
but  his  slave.  Still  again  both  seemed  yoked  together,  and  an 
unseen  tyrant  driving  them ;  the  lean  shade  siding  the  solid 
rib.  For  be  this  Parsee  what  he  may,  all  rib  and  keel  was  solid 
Ahab. 

At  the  first  faintest  glimmering  of  the  dawn,  his  iron  voice 
was  heard  from  aft — "  Man  the  mast-heads  !" — and  all  through 
the  day,  till  after  sunset  and  after  twilight,  the  same  voice  every 
hour,  at  the  striking  of  the  helmsman's  bell,  was  heard — 
"  What  d'ye  see  ? — sharp  !  sharp  !" 

But  when  three  or  four  days  had  slided  by,  after  meeting  the 
children-seeking  Rachel ;  and  no  spout  had  yet  been  seen ; 
the  monomaniac  old  man  seemed  distrustful  of  his  crew's 
fidelity ;  at  least,  of  nearly  all  except  the  Pagan  harpooneers  ; 
he  seemed  to  doubt,  even,  whether  Stubb  and  Flask  might  not 
willingly  overlook  the  sight  he  sought.  But  if  these  suspicions 
were  really  his,  he  sagaciously  refrained  from  verbally  expressing 
them,  however  his  actions  might  seem  to  hint  them. 

"  I  will  have  the  first  sight  of  the  whale  myself," — he  said. 
"  Aye  !  Ahab  must  have  the  doubloon  !"  and  with  his  own 
hands  he  rigged  a  nest  of  basketed  bowlines ;  and  sending  a 
hand  aloft,  with  a  single  sheaved  block,  to  secure  to  the  main- 
mast head,  he  received  the  two  ends  of  the  downward-reeved 
rope  ;  and  attaching  one  to  his  basket  prepared  a  pin  for  the 
other  end,  in  order  to  fasten  it  at  the  rail.  This  done,  with  that 
end  yet  in  his  hand  and  standing  beside  the  pin,  he  looked  round 
upon  his  crew,  sweeping  from  one  to  the  other ;  pausing  his 
glance  long  upon  Daggoo,  Queequeg,  Tashtego  ;  but  shunning 
Fedallah  ;  and  then  settling  his  firm  relying  eye  upon  the  chief 
mate,  said, — "  Take  the  rope,  sir — I  give  it  into  thy  hands, 
Starbuck."  Then  arranging  his  person  in  the  basket,  he  gave 
the  word  for  them  to  hoist  him  to  his  perch,  Starbuck  being 


THE    HAT.  593 

the  one  who  secured  the  rope  at  last ;  and  afterwards  stood 
near  it.  And  thus,  with  one  hand  clinging  round  the  royal 
mast,  Ahab  gazed  abroad  upon  the  sea  for  miles  and  miles, — ■ 
ahead,  astern,  this  side,  and  that, — within  the  wide  expanded 
circle  commanded  at  so  great  a  height. 

"When  in  working  with  his  hands  at  some  lofty  almost  isolated 
place  in  the  rigging,  which  chances  to  afford  no  foothold,  the 
sailor  at  sea  is  hoisted  up  to  that  spot,  and  sustained  there  by 
the  rope ;  under  these  circumstances,  its  fastened  end  on  deck 
is  always  given  in  strict  charge  to  some  one  man  who  has  the 
special  watch  of  it.  Because  in  such  a  wilderness  of  running 
rigging,  whose  various  different  relations  aloft  cannot  always  be 
infallibly  discerned  by  what  is  seen  of  them  at  the  deck  ;  and 
when  the  deck-ends  of  these  ropes  are  being  every  few  minutes 
cast  down  from  the  fastenings,  it  would  be  but  a  natural  fatality, 
if,  unprovided  with  a  constant  watchman,  the  hoisted  sailor 
should  by  some  carelessness  of  the  crew  be  cast  adrift  and  fall 
all  swooping  to  the  sea.  So  Ahab's  proceedings  in  this  matter 
were  not  unusual ;  the  only  strange  thing  about  them  seemed 
to  be,  that  Starbuck,  almost  the  one  only  man  who  had  ever 
ventured  to  oppose  him  with  anything  in  the  slightest  degree 
approaching  to  decision — one  of  those  too,  whose  faithfulness  on 
the  look-out  he  had  seemed  to  doubt  somewhat ; — it  was  strange, 
that  this  was  the  very  man  he  should  select  for  his  watchman ; 
freely  giving  his  whole  life  into  such  an  otherwise  distrusted 
person's  hands. 

Now,  the  first  time  Ahab  was  perched  aloft ;  ere  he  had 
been  there  ten  minutes  ;  one  of  those  red-billed  savage  sea-hawks 
which  so  often  fly  incommodiously  close  round  the  manned 
mast-heads  of  whalemen  in  these  latitudes  ;  one  of  these  birds 
came  wheeling  and  screaming  round  his  head  in  a  maze  of  un- 
trackably  swift  circlings.  Then  it  darted  a  thousand  feet  straight 
up  into  the  air  ;  then  spiralized  downwards,  and  went  eddying 
again  round  his  head. 


594    THE    PEQUOD    MEETS    THE    DELIGHT. 

But  with  his  gaze  fixed  upon  the  dim  and  distant  horizon, 
Ahab  seemed  not  to  mark  this  wild  bird ;  nor,  indeed,  would 
any  one  else  have  marked  it  much,  it  being  no  uncommon  cir- 
cumstance ;  only  now  almost  the  least  heedful  eye  seemed  to 
see  some  sort  of  cunning  meaning  in  almost  eveiy  sight. 

"  Your  hat,  your  hat,  sir !"  suddenly  cried  the  Sicilian  sea- 
man, who  being  posted  at  the  mizen-mast-head,  stood  directly 
behind  Ahab,  though  somewhat  lower  than  his  level,  and  with  a 
deep  gulf  of  air  dividing  them. 

But  already  the  sable  wing  was  before  the  old  man's  eyes  ; 
the  long  hooked  bill  at  his  head :  with  a  scream,  the  black 
hawk  darted  away  with  his  prize. 

An  eagle  flew  thrice  round  Tarquin's  head,  removing  his  cap 
to  replace  it,  and  thereupon  Tanaquil,  his  wife,  declared  that 
Tarquin  would  be  king  of  Rome.  But  only  by  the  replacing 
of  the  cap  was  that  omen  accounted  good.  Ahab's  hat  was 
never  restored  ;  the  wild  hawk  flew  on  and  on  with  it ;  far  in 
advance  of  the  prow :  and  at  last  disappeared  ;  while  from  the 
point  of  that  disappearance,  a  minute  black  spot  was  dimly  dis- 
cerned, falling  from  that  vast  height  into  the  sea. 


CHAPTER  CXXXL 

THE  PEQUOD  MEETS  THE  DELIGHT. 

The  intense  Pequod  sailed  on  ;  the  rolling  waves  and  days 
went  by  ;  the  life-buoy-coffin  still  lightly  swung ;  and  another 
ship,  most  miserably  misnamed  the  Delight,  was  descried.  As 
she  drew  nigh,  all  eyes  were  fixed  upom  her  broad  beams,  called 
shears,  which,  in  some  whaling-ships,  cross  the  quarter-deck  at 
the  height  of  eight  or  nine  feet ;  serving  to  carry  the  spare, 
unrigged,  or  disabled  boats. 


THE    PEQUOD    MEETS    THE    DELIGHT.     595 

Upon  the  stranger's  shears  were  beheld  the  shattered,  white 
ribs,  and  some  few  splintered  planks,  of  what  had  once  been  a 
whale-boat ;  but  you  now  saw  through  this  wreck,  as  plainly  as 
you  see  through  the  peeled,  half-unhinged,  and  bleaching  skele- 
ton of  a  horse. 

"  Hast  seen  the  White  Whale  ?" 

'*  Look !"  replied  the  hollow-cheeked  captain  from  his  taffrail ; 
and  with  his  trumpet  he  pointed  to  the  wreck. 

"Hast  killed  him?" 

"  The  harpoon  is  not  yet  forged  that  will  ever  do  that," 
answered  the  other,  sadly  glancing  upon  a  rounded  hammock 
on  the  deck,  whose  gathered  sides  some  noiseless  sailors  were 
busy  in  sewing  together. 

"  Not  forged  !"  and  snatching  Perth's  levelled  iron  from  the 
crotch,  Ahab  held  it  out,  exclaiming — "  Look  ye,  Nantucketer ; 
here  in  this  hand  I  hold  his  death  !  Tempered  in  blood,  and 
tempered  by  lightning  are  these  barbs ;  and  I  swear  to  temper 
them  triply  in  that  hot  place  behind  the  fin,  where  the  White 
Whale  most  feels  his  accursed  life !" 

"Then  God  keep  thee,  old  man — see'st  thou  that" — point- 
ing to  the  hammock — "  I  bury  but  one  of  five  stout  men,  who 
were  alive  only  yesterday ;  but  were  dead  ere  night.  Only  that 
one  I  bury ;  the  rest  were  buried  before  they  died ;  you  sail  upon 
their  tomb."  Then  turning  to  his  crew — "  Are  ye  ready  there  ? 
place  the  plank  then  on  the  rail,  and  lift  the  body ;  so,  then — 
Oh !  God" — advancing  towards  the  hammock  with  uplifted 
hands — "  may  the  resurrection  and  the  life " 

"  Brace  forward !  Up  helm  !"  cried  Ahab  like  lightning  to 
his  men. 

But  the  suddenly  started  Pequod  was  not  quick  enough  to 
escape  the  sound  of  the  splash  that  the  corpse  soon  made  as  it 
struck  the  sea ;  not  so  quick,  indeed,  but  that  some  of  the  flying 
bubbles  might  have  sprinkled  her  hull  with  their  ghostly  bap-  j 
tism. 


596  THE    SYMPHONY. 

As  Ahab  now  glided  from  the  dejected  Delight,  the  strange 
life-buoy  hanging  at  the  Pequod's  stern  came  into  conspicuous 
relief. 

"  Ha !  yonder !  look  yonder,  men  !"  cried  a  foreboding  voice 
in  her  wake.  "  In  vain,  oh,  ye  strangers,  ye  fly  our  sad  burial ; 
ye  but  turn  us  your  taffrail  to  show  us  your  coffin !" 


CHAPTER  CXXXII. 

THE    SYMPHONY. 

It  was  a  clear  steel-blue  day.  The  firmaments  of  air  and  sea 
were  hardly  separable  in  that  all-pervading  azure;  only,  the 
pensive  air  was  transparently  pure  and  soft,  with  a  woman's 
look,  and  the  robust  and  man-like  sea  heaved  with  long, 
strong,  fingering  swells,  as  Samson's  chest  in  his  sleep. 

Hither,  and  thither,  on  high,  glided  the  snow-white  wings  of 
small,  unspeckled  birds ;  these  were  the  gentle  thoughts  of  the 
feminine  air ;  but  to  and  fro  in  the  deeps,  far  down  in  the  bot- 
tomless blue,  rushed  mighty  leviathans,  sword-fish,  and  sharks ; 
and  these  were  the  strong,  troubled,  murderous  thinkings  of  the 
masculine  sea. 

But  though  thus  contrasting  within,  the  contrast  was  only  in 
shades  and  shadows  without ;  those  two  seemed  one ;  it  was 
only  the  sex,  as  it  were,  that  distinguished  them. 

Aloft,  like  a  royal  czar  and  king,  the  sun  seemed  giving  this 
gentle  air  to  this  bold  and  rolling  sea;  even  as  bride  to 
groom.  And  at  the  girdling  line  of  the  horizon,  a  soft  and  tre- 
mulous motion — most  seen  here  at  the  equator — denoted  the  fond, 
throbbing  trust,  the  loving  alarms,  with  which  the  poor  bride 
gave  her  bosom  away. 

Tied  up  and  twisted ;  gnarled  and  knotted  with  wrinkles ; 
haggardly  firm  and  unyielding;  his  eyes  glowing  like  coals, 


THE    SYMPHONY.  597 

that  still  glow  in  the  ashes  of  ruin ;  untottering  Ahab  stood 
forth  in  the  clearness  of  the  morn ;  lifting  his  splintered  helmet 
of  a  brow  to  the  fair  girl's  forehead  of  heaven. 

Oh,  immortal  infancy,  and  innocency  of  the  azure  !  Invisible 
winged  creatures  that  frolic  all  round  us !  Sweet  childhood 
of  air  and  sky !  how  oblivious  were  ye  of  old  Ahab's  close-coiled 
woe  1  But  so  have  I  seen  little  Miriam  and  Martha,  laughing- 
eyed  elves,  heedlessly  gambol  around  their  old  sire ;  sporting 
with  the  circle  of  singed  locks  which  grew  on  the  marge  of 
that  burnt-out  crater  of  his  brain. 

Slowly  crossing  the  deck  from  the  scuttle,  Ahab  leaned  over 
the  side,  and  watched  how  his  shadow  in  the  water  sank  and 
sank  to  his  gaze,  the  more  and  the  more  that  he  strove  to  pierce 
the  profundity.  But  the  lovely  aromas  in  that  enchanted  air 
did  at  last  seem  to  dispel,  for  a  moment,  the  cankerous  thing  in 
his  soul.  That  glad,  happy  air,  that  winsome  sky,  did  at  last 
stroke  and  caress  him  ;  the  step-mother  world,  so  long  cruel — 
forbidding — now  threw  affectionate  arms  round  his  stubborn 
neck,  and  did  seem  to  joyously  sob  over  him,  as  if  over  one, 
that  however  wilful  and  erring,  she  could  yet  find  it  in  her 
heart  to  save  and  to  bless.  From  beneath  his  slouched  hat 
Ahab  dropped  a  tear  into  the  sea ;  nor  did  all  the  Pacific  con- 
tain such  wealth  as  that  one  wee  drop. 

Starbuck  saw  the  old  man ;  saw  him,  how  he  heavily  leaned 
over  the  side ;  and  he  seemed  to  hear  in  his  own  true  heart  the 
measureless  sobbing  that  stole  out  of  the  centre  of  the  serenity 
around.  Careful  not  to  touch  him,  or  be  noticed  by  him,  he 
yet  drew  near  to  him,  and  stood  there. 

Ahab  turned. 

"  Starbuck !" 
,      "Sir." 

"  Oh,  Starbuck !  it  is  a  mild,  mild  wind,  and  a  mild  looking 
sky.  On  such  a  day — veiy  much  such  a  sweetness  as  this — I 
struck  my  first  whale — a  boy-harpooneer  of  eighteen  !     Forty — 


598  THE    SYMPHONY. 

forty — forty  years  ago ! — ago  !  Forty  years  of  continual  whal- 
ing !  forty  years  of  privation,  and  peril,  and  storm-time !  forty 
years  on  the  pitiless  sea !  for  forty  years  has  Ahab  forsaken  the 
peaceful  land,  for  forty  years  to  make  war  on  the  horrors  of  the 
deep  !  Aye  and  yes,  Starbuck,  out  of  those  forty  years  I  have 
not  spent  three  ashore.  When  I  think  of  this  life  I  have  led ;  the 
desolation  of  solitude  it  has  been ;  the  masoned,  walled-town  of 
a  Captain's  exclusiveness,  which  admits  but  small  entrance  to 
any  sympathy  from  the  green  country  without — oh,  weariness  ! 
heaviness  !  Guinea-coast  slavery  of  solitary  command  ! — when 
I  think  of  all  this  ;  only  half-suspected,  not  so  keenly  known  to 
me  before — and  how  for  forty  years  I  have  fed  upon  dry  salted 
fare — fit  emblem  of  the  dry  nourishment  of  my  soul ! — when 
the  poorest  landsman  has  had  fresh  fruit  to  his  daily  hand,  and 
broken  the  world's  fresh  bread  to  my  mouldy  crusts — away, 
whole  oceans  away,  from  that  young  girl-wife  I  wedded  past 
fifty,  and  sailed  for  Cape  Horn  the  next  day,  leaving  but  one 
dent  in  my  marriage  pillow — wife?  wife? — rather  a  widow  with 
her  husband  alive  !  Aye,  I  widowed  that  poor  girl  when  I 
married  her,  Starbuck ;  and  then,  the  madness,  the  frenzy,  the 
boiling  blood  and  the  smoking  brow,  with  which,  for  a  thousand 
lowerings  old  Ahab  has  furiously,  foamingly  chased  his  prey — 
more  a  demon  than  a  man  ! — aye,  aye !  what  a  forty  years' 
fool — fool — old  fool,  has  old  Ahab  been  !  Why  this  strife  of 
the  chase  ?  why  weary,  and  palsy  the  arm  at  the  oar,  and  the 
iron,  and  the  lance  ?  how  the  richer  or  better  is  Ahab  now  ? 
Behold.  Oh,  Starbuck  !  is  it  not  hard,  that  with  this  weary  load 
I  bear,  one  poor  leg  should  have  been  snatched  from  under  me  ? 
Here,  brush  this  old  hair  aside ;  it  blinds  me,  that  I  seem  to 
weep.  Locks  so  grey  did  never  grow  but  from  out  some 
ashes !  But  do  I  look  very  old,  so  very,  very  old,  Starbuck  ? 
I  feel  deadly  faint,  bowed,  and  humped,  as  though  I  were 
Adam,  staggering  beneath  the  piled  centuries  since  Paradise. 
God  !  God !  God ! — crack  my  heart ! — stave  my  brain ! — mock- 


THE    SYMPHONY.  599 

ery!  mockery!  bitter,  biting  mockery  of  grey  hairs,  have  I 
lived  enough  joy  to  wear  ye  ;  and  seem  and  feel  thus  intolerably 
old  ?  Close  !  stand  close  to  me,  Starbuck  ;  let  me  look  into  a 
human  eye ;  it  is  better  than  to  gaze  into  sea  or  sky ;  better 
than  to  gaze  upon  God.  By  the  green  land ;  by  the  bright 
hearth-stone  !  this  is  the  magic  glass,  man  ;  I  see  my  wife  and 
my  child  in  thine  eye.  No,  no  ;  stay  on  board,  on  board ! — 
lower  not  when  I  do  ;  when  branded  Ahab  gives  chase  to  Moby 
Dick.  That  hazard  shall  not  be  thine.  No,  no !  not  with  the 
far  away  home  I  see  in  that  eye  !" 

"  Oh,  my  Captain  !  my  Captain  !  noble  soul !  grand  old  heart, 
after  all !  why  should  any  one  give  chase  to  that  hated  fish ! 
Away  with  me  !  let  us  fly  these  deadly  waters  !  let  us  home  ! 
Wife  and  child,  too,  are  Starbuck's — wife  and  child  of  his 
brotherly,  sisterly,  play-fellow  youth ;  even  as  thine,  sir,  are  the 
wife  and  child  of  thy  loving,  longing,  paternal  old  age  !  Away ! 
let  us  away ! — this  instant  let  me  alter  the  course !  How 
cheerily,  how  hilariously,  O  my  Captain,  would  we  bowl  on 
our  way  to  see  old  Nantucket  again !  I  think,  sir,  they  have 
some  such  mild  blue  days,  even  as  this,  in  Nantucket." 

"  They  have,  they  have.  I  have  seen  them — some  summer 
days  in  the  morning.  About  this  time — yes,  it  is  his  noon  nap 
now — the  boy  vivaciously  wakes ;  sits  up  in  bed ;  and  his 
"mother  tells  him  of  me,  of  cannibal  old  me ;  how  I  am  abroad 
upon  the  deep,  but  will  yet  come  back  to  dance  him  again." 

"  Tis  my  Mary,  my  Mary  herself !  She  promised  that  my 
boy,  every  morning,  should  be  carried  to  the  hill  to  catch  the 
first  glimpse  of  his  father's  sail !  Yes,  yes  !  no  more !  it  is 
done  !  we  head  for  Nantucket !  Come,  my  Captain,  study  out 
the  course,  and  let  us  away  !  See,  see !  the  boy's  face  from 
the  window  !  the  boy's  hand  on  the  hill !" 

But  Ahab's  glance  was  averted ;  like  a  blighted  fruit  tree  he 
shook,  and  cast  his  last,  cindered  apple  to  the  soil. 

"  What  is  it,  what  nameless,  inscrutable,  unearthly  thing  is  it ; 


600  THE    SYMPHONY. 

what  cozzening,  hidden  lord  and  master,  and  cruel,  remorseless 
emperor  commands  me ;  that  against  all  natural  lovings  and 
longings,  I  so  keep  pushing,  and  crowding,  and  jamming  myself 
on  all  the  time ;  recklessly  making  me  ready  to  do  what  in  my 
own  proper,  natural  heart,  I  durst  not  so  much  as  dare  ?  Is 
Ahab,  Ahab  ?  Is  it  I,  God,  or  who,  that  lifts  this  arm  ? 
But  if  the  great  sun  move  not  of  himself ;  but  is  as  an  errand- 
boy  in  heaven ;  nor  one  single  star  can  revolve,  but  by  some 
invisible  power ;  how  then  can  this  one  small  heart  beat ;  this 
one  small  brain  think  thoughts;  unless  God  does  that  beat- 
ing, does  that  thinking,  does  that  living,  and  not  I.  By  heaven, 
man,  we  are  turned  round  and  round  in  this  world,  like  yonder 
windlass,  and  Fate  is  the  handspike.  And  all  the  time,  lo !  that 
smiling  sky,  and  this  unsounded  sea !  Look !  see  yon  Albicore ! 
who  put  it  into  him  to  chase  and  fang  that  flying-fish  ?  Where 
do  murderers  go,  man!  Who's  to  doom,  when  the  judge 
himself  is  dragged  to  the  bar  ?  But  it  is  a  mild,  mild  wind, 
and  a  mild  looking  sky ;  and  the  airs  smells  now,  as  if  it  blew 
from  a  far-away  meadow ;  they  have  been  making  hay  some- 
where under  the  slopes  of  the  Andes,  Starbuck,  and  the  mow- 
ers are  sleeping  among  the  new-mown  hay.  Sleeping  ?  Aye, 
toil  we  how  we  may,  we  all  sleep  at  last  on  the  field.  Sleep  ? 
Aye,  and  rust  amid  greenness  ;  as  last  year's  scythes  flung  down, 
and  left  in  the  half-cut  swaths — Starbuck !" 

But  blanched  to  a  corpse's  hue  with  despair,  the  Mate  had 
stolen  away. 

Ahab  crossed  the  deck  to  gaze  over  on  the  other  side ;  but 
started  at  two  reflected,  fixed  eyes  in  the  water  there.  Fedal- 
lah  was  motionlessly  leaning  over  the  same  rail. 


THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY.  601 


CHAPTER  CXXXIII. 

THE     CHASE FIRST     DAY. 

That  night,  in  the  mid-watch,  when  the  old  man — as  his 
wont  at  intervals — stepped  forth  from  the  scuttle  in  which 
he  leaned,  and  went  to  his  pivot-hole,  he  suddenly  thrust  out 
his  face  fiercely,  snuffing  up  the  sea  air  as  a  sagacious  ship's 
clog  will,  in  drawing  nigh  to  some  barbarous  isle.  He  declared 
that  a  whale  must  be  near.  Soon  that  peculiar  odor,  sometimes 
to  a  great  distance  given  forth  by  the  living  sperm  whale,  was 
palpable  to  all  the  watch  ;  nor  was  any  mariner  surprised  when, 
after  inspecting  the  compass,  and  then  the  dog- vane,  and  then 
ascertaining  the  precise  bearing  of  the  odor  as  nearly  as  pos- 
sible, Ahab  rapidly  ordered  the  ship's  course  to  be  slightly 
altered,  and  the  sail  to  be  shortened. 

The  acute  policy  dictating  these  movements  was  sufficiently 
vindicated  at  daybreak,  by  the  sight  of  a  long  sleek  on  the  sea 
directly  and  lengthwise  ahead,  smooth  as  oil,  and  resembling  in 
the  pleated  watery  wrinkles  bordering  it,  the  polished  metallic- 
like  marks  of  some  swift  tide-rip,  at  the  mouth  of  a  deep,  rapid 
stream. 

"  Man  the  mast-heads !     Call  all  hands  !" 

Thundering  with  the  butts  of  three  clubbed  handspikes  on 
the  forecastle  deck,  Daggoo  roused  the  sleepers  with  such  judg- 
ment claps  that  they  seemed  to  exhale  from  the  scuttle,  so 
instantaneously  did  they  appear  with  their  clothes  in  their 
hands. 

"What  d'ye  see?"  cried  Ahab,  flattening  his  face  to  the 
sky. 

"  Nothing,  nothing,  sir !"  was  the  sound  hailing  down  in 

reply. 

26 


602  THE    CHASE— FIRST    DAY. 

"  T'gallant  sails  ! — stunsails !  alow  and  aloft,  and  on  both 
sides  !" 

All  sail  being  set,  he  now  cast  loose  the  life-line,  reserved  for 
swaying  him  to  the  main  royal-mast  head;  and  in  a  few 
moments  they  were  hoisting  him  thither,  when,  while  but  two 
thirds  of  the  way  aloft,  and  while  peering  ahead  through  the 
horizontal  vacancy  between  the  main-top-sail  and  top-gallant- 
sail,  he  raised  a  gull-like  cry  in  the  air,  "  There  she  blows  ! — 
there  she  blows !  A  hump  like  a  snow-hill !  It  is  Moby 
Dick  !" 

Fired  by  the  cry  which  seemed  simultaneously  taken  up  by 
the  three  look-outs,  the  men  on  deck  rushed  to  the  rigging 
to  behold  the  famous  whale  they  had  so  long  been  pursuing. 
Ahab  had  now  gained  his  final  perch,  some  feet  above  the  other 
look-outs,  Tashtego  standing  just  beneath  him  on  the  cap  of  the 
top-gallant-mast,  so  that  the  Indian's  head  was  almost  on  a 
level  with  Ahab's  heel.  From  this  height  the  whale  was  now 
seen  some  mile  or  so  ahead,  at  every  roll  of  the  sea  revealing 
his  high  sparkling  hump,  and  regularly  jetting  his  silent  spout 
into  the  air.  To  the  credulous  mariners  it  seemed  the  same 
silent  spout  they  had  so  long  ago  beheld  in  the  moonlit  Atlantic 
and  Indian  Oceans. 

"  And  did  none  of  ye  see  it  before  ?"  cried  Ahab;  hailing  the 
perched  men  all  around  him. 

"I  saw  him  almost  that  same  instant,  sir,  that  Captain  Ahab 
did,  and  I  cried  out,"  said  Tashtego. 

"  Not  the  same  instant ;  not  the  same — no,  the  doubloon  is 
mine,  Fate  reserved  the  doubloon  for  me.  /  only  ;  none  of  ye 
could  have  raised  the  White  Whale  first.  There  she  blows  ! 
there  she  blows  !• — there  she  blows  !  There  again  ! — there 
again !"  he  cried,  in  long-drawn,  lingering,  methodic  tones, 
attuned  to  the  gradual  prolongings  of  the  whale's  visible 
jets.  "  He's  going  to  sound  !  In  stunsails  !  Down  top- 
gallant-sails !     Stand  by  three  boats.     Mr.  Starbuck,  remember, 


THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY.  603 

stay  on  board,  and  keep  the  ship.  Helm  there !  Luff,  luff 
a  point !  So  ;  steady,  man,  steady  !  There  go  flukes  !  No, 
no ;  only  black  water !  All  ready  the  boats  there  ?  Stand 
by,  stand  by  !  Lower  me,  Mr.  Starbuck  ;  lower,  lower, — quick, 
quicker !"  and  he  slid  through  the  air  to  the  deck. 

"  He  is  heading  straight  to  leeward,  sir,"  cried  Stubb,  "  right 
away  from  us  ;  cannot  have  seen  the  ship  yet." 

"  Be  dumb,  man  !  Stand  by  the  braces  !  Hard  down  the 
helm  ! — brace  up !  Shiver  her  ! — shiver  her !  So ;  well  that ! 
Boats,  boats !" 

Soon  all  the  boats  but  Starbuck's  were  dropped;  all  the 
boat-sails  set — all  the  paddles  plying ;  with  rippling  swiftness, 
shooting  to  leeward ;  and  Ahab  heading  the  onset.  A  paVs, 
death-glimmer  lit  up  Fedallah's  sunken  eyes  ;  a  hideous  motion 
gnawed  his  mouth. 

Like  noiseless  nautilus  shells,  their  light  prows  sped  through 
the  sea  ;  but  only  slowly  they  neared  the  foe.  As  they  neared 
him,  the  ocean  grew  still  more  smooth  ;  seemed  drawing  a 
carpet  over  its  waves ;  seemed  a  noon-meadow,  so  serenely  it 
spread.  At  length  the  breathless  hunter  came  so  nigh  his 
seemingly  unsuspecting  prey,  that  his  entire  dazzling  hump  was 
distinctly  visible,  sliding  along  the  sea  as  if  an  isolated  thing, 
and  continually  set  in  a  revolving  ring  of  finest,  fleecy,  greenish 
foam.  He  saw  the  vast,  involved  wrinkles  of  the  slightly  pro- 
jecting head  beyond.  Before  it,  far  out  on  the  soft  Turkish- 
rugged  waters,  went  the  glistening  white  shadow  from  his 
broad,  milky  forehead,  a  musical  rippling  playfully  accompany- 
ing the  shade ;  and  behind,  the  blue  waters  interchangeably 
flowed  over  into  the  moving  valley  of  his  steady  wake ;  and  on 
either  hand  bright  bubbles  arose  and  danced  by  his  side.  But 
these  were  broken  again  by  the  light  toes  of  hundreds  of  gay 
fowl  softly  feathering  the  sea,  alternate  with  their  fitful  flight; 
and  like  to  some  flag-staff  rising  from  the  painted  hull  of  an 
argosy,  the  tall  but  sbattei'ed  pole  of  a  recent  lance  projected 


604  THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY. 


from  the  white  whale's  back;  and  at  intervals  one  of  the  cloud 
of  soft-toed  fowels  hovering,  and  to  and  fro  skimming  like 
a  canopy  over  the  fish,  silently  perched  and  rocked  on  this  pole, 
the  long  tail  feathers  streaming  like  pennons. 

A  gentle  joyousness — a  mighty  mildness  of  repose  in  swift- 
ness, invested  the  gliding  whale.  Not  the  white  bull  Jupiter 
swimming  away  with  ravished  Europa  clinging  to  his  graceful 
horns ;  his  lovely,  leering  eyes  sideways  intent  upon  the  maid  ; 
with  smooth  bewitching  fieetness,  rippling  straight  for  the  nup- 
tial bower  in  Crete ;  not  Jove,  not  that  great  majesty  Supreme  ! 
did  surpass  the  glorified  White  Whale  as  he  so  divinely  swam. 

On  each  soft  side — coincident  with  the  parted  swell,  that  but 
once  leaving  him,  then  flowed  so  wide  away — on  each  bright  side, 
the  whale  shed  off  enticings.  No  wonder  there  had  been  some 
among  the  hunters  who  namelessly  transported  and  allured 
by  all  this  serenity,  had  ventured  to  assail  it ;  but  had  fatally 
found  that  quietude  but  the  vesture  of  tornadoes.  Yet  calm, 
enticing  calm,  oh,  whale !  thou  glidest  on,  to  all  who  for  the 
first  time  eye  thee,  no  matter  how  many  in  that  same  way 
thou  may'st  have  bejuggled  and  destroyed  before. 

And  thus,  through  the  serene  tranquillities  of  the  tropical  sea, 
among  waves  whose  hand-clappings  were  suspended  by  exceed- 
ing rapture,  Moby  Dick  moved  on,  still  withholding  from  sight 
the  full  terrors  of  his  submerged  trunk,  entirely  hiding  the 
wrenched  hideousness  of  his  jaw.  But  soon  the  fore  part  of 
him  slowly  rose  from  the  water ;  for  an  instant  his  whole  mar- 
ble! zed  body  formed  a  high  arch,  like  Virginia's  Natural  Bridge, 
and  warningly  waving  his  bannered  flukes  in  the  air,  the  grand 
god  revealed  himself,  sounded,  and  went  out  of  sight.  Hover- 
ingly  halting,  and  dipping  on  the  wing,  the  white  sea-fowls  long- 
ingly lingered  over  the  agitated  pool  that  he  left. 

With  oars  apeak,  and  paddles  down,  the  sheets  of  their  sails 
adrift,  the  three  boats  now  stilly  floated,  awaiting  Moby  Dick's 
reappearance. 


THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY.  605 

"  An  hour,"  said  Ahab,  standing  rooted  in  his  boat's  stern ; 
and  he  gazed  beyond  the  whale's  place,  towards  the  dim  blue 
spaces  and  wide  wooing  vacancies  to  leeward.  It  was  only  an 
instant ;  for  again  his  eyes  seemed  whirling  round  in  his  head  as 
he  swept  the  watery  circle.  The  breeze  now  freshened ;  the 
sea  began  to  swell. 

"  The  birds !— the  birds !"  cried  Tashtego. 

In  long  Indian  file,  as  when  herons  take  wing,  the  white 
birds  were  now  all  flying  towards  Ahab's  boat ;  and  when 
within  a  few  yards  began  fluttering  over  the  water  there,  wheel- 
ing round  and  round,  with  joyous,  expectant  cries.  Their 
vision  was  keener  than  man's  ;  Ahab  could  discover  no  sign 
in  the  sea.  But  suddenly  as  he  peered  down  and  down  into 
its  deptbs,  he  profoundly  saw  a  white  living  spot  no  bigger  than 
a  white  weasel,  with  wonderful  celerity  uprising,  and  magnify- 
ing as  it  rose,  till  it  turned,  and  then  there  were  plainly  revealed 
two  long  crooked  rows  of  white,  glistening  teeth,  floating  up 
from  the  undiscoverable  bottom.  It  was  Moby  Dick's  open 
mouth  and  scrolled  jaw ;  his  vast,  shadowed  bulk  still  half 
blending  with  the  blue  of  the  sea.  The  glittering  mouth 
yawned  beneath  the  boat  like  an  open-doored  marble  tomb ; 
and  giving  one  sidelong  sweep  with  his  steering  oar,  Ahab 
whirled  the  craft  aside  from  this  tremendous  apparition.  Then, 
calling  upon  Fedallah  to  change  places  with  him,  went  forward 
to  the  bows,  and  seizing  Perth's  harpoon,  commanded  his  crew 
to  grasp  their  oars  and  stand  by  to  stern. 

Now,  by  reason  of  this  timely  spinning  round  the  boat 
upon  its  axis,  its  bow,  by  anticipation,  was  made  to  face  the 
whale's  head  while  yet  under  water.  But  as  if  perceiving  this 
stratagem,  Moby  Dick,  with  that  malicious  intelligence  ascribed 
to  him,  sidelingly  transplanted  himself,  as  it  were,  in  an  instant, 
shooting  his  pleated  head  lengthwise  beneath  the  boat. 

Through  and  through  ;  through  every  plank  and  each  rib,  it 
thrilled  for  an  instant,  the  whale  obliquely  lying  on  his  back,  in 


606  THE    CHASE— FIRST    DAY. 

the  manner  of  a  biting  shark,  slowly  and  feelingly  taking  its 
bows  full  within  his  mouth,  so  that  the  long,  narrow,  scrolled 
lower  jaw  curled  high  up  into  the  open  air,  and  one  of  the  teeth 
caught  in  a  row-lock.  The  bluish  pearl-white  of  the  inside  of 
the  jaw  was  within  six  inches  of  Ahab's  head,  and  reached 
higher  than  that.  In  this  attitude  the  White  Whale  now  shook 
the  slight  cedar  as  a  mildly  cruel  cat  her  mouse.  With  unasto- 
nished  eyes  Fedallah  gazed,  and  crossed  his  arms ;  but  the  tiger- 
yellow  crew  were  tumbling  over  each  other's  heads  to  gain  the 
uttermost  stern. 

And  now,  while  both  elastic  gunwales  were  springing  in  and 
out,  as  the  whale  dallied  with  the  doomed  craft  in  this  devilish 
way ;  and  from  his  body  being  submerged  beneath  the  boat,  he 
could  not  be  darted  at  from  the  bows,  for  the  bows  were  almost 
inside  of  him,  as  it  were ;  and  while  the  other  boats  involun- 
tarily paused,  as  before  a  quick  crisis  impossible  to  withstand, 
then  it  was  that  monomaniac  Ahab,  furious  with  this  tantaliz- 
ing vicinity  of  his  foe,  which  placed  him  all  alive  and  helpless 
in  the  very  jaws  he  hated ;  frenzied  with  all  this,  he  seized  the 
long  bone  with  his  naked  hands,  and  wildly  strove  to  wrench  it 
from  its  gripe.  As  now  he  thus  vainly  strove,  the  jaw  slipped 
from  him ;  the  frail  gunwales  bent  in,  collapsed,  and  snapped, 
as  both  jaws,  like  an  enormous  shears,  sliding  further  aft,  bit 
the  craft  completely  in  twain,  and  locked  themselves  fast  again 
in  the  sea,  midway  between  the  two  floating  wrecks.  These 
floated  aside,  the  broken  ends  drooping,  the  crew  at  the  stern- 
wreck  clinging  to  the  gunwales,  and  striving  to. hold  fast  to  the 
oars  to  lash  them  across. 

At  that  preluding  moment,  ere  the  boat  was  yet  snapped, 
Ahab,  the  first  to  perceive  the  whale's  intent,  by  the  crafty  up- 
raising of  his  head,  a  movement  that  loosed  his  hold  for  the 
time ;  at  that  moment  his  hand  had  made  one  final  effort  to 
push  the  boat  out  of  the  bite.  But  only  slipping  further  into  the 
whale's  mouth,  and  tilting  over  sideways  as  it  slipped,  the  boat 


THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY.  607 

had  shaken  off  his  hold  on  the  jaw  ;  spilled  him  out  of  it,  as  he 
leaned  to  the  push  ;  and  so  he  fell  fiat-faced  upon  the  sea. 

Ripplingly  withdrawing  from  his  prey,  Mohy  Dick  now  lay 
at  a  little  distance,  vertically  thrusting  his  oblong  white  head 
up  and  down  in  the  billows  ;  and  at  the  same  time  slowly 
revolving  his  whole  spindled  body ;  so  that  when  his  vast 
wrinkled  forehead  rose — some  twenty  or  more  feet  out  of  the 
water — the  now  rising  swells,  with  all  their  confluent  waves, 
dazzlingly  broke  against  it ;  vindictively  tossing  their  shivered 
spray  still  higher  into  the  air.*  So,  in  a  gale,  the  but  half 
baffled  Channel  billows  only  recoil  from  the  base  of  the  Eddy- 
stone,  triumphantly  to  overleap  its  summit  with  their  scud. 

But  soon  resuming  his  horizontal  attitude,  Moby  Dick  swam 
swiftly  round  and  round  the  wrecked  crew ;  sideways  churning 
the  water  in  his  vengeful  wake,  as  if  lashing  himself  up  to  still 
another  and  more  deadly  assault.  The  sight  of  the  splintered 
boat  seemed  to  madden  him,  as  the  blood  of  grapes  and  mul- 
berries cast  before  Antiochus's  elephants  in  the  book  of  Macca- 
bees. Meanwhile  Ahab  half  smothered  in  the  foam  of  the 
whale's  insolent  tail,  and  too  much  of  a  cripple  to  swim, — though 
he  could  still  keep  afloat,  even  in  the  heart  of  such  a  whirlpool 
as  that ;  helpless  Ahab's  head  was  seen,  like  a  tossed  bubble 
which  the  least  chance  shock  might  burst.  From  the  boat's 
fragmentary  stern,  Fedallah  incuriously  and  mildly  eyed  him  ; 
the  clinging  crew,  at  the  other  drifting  end,  could  not  succor 
him  ;  more  than  enough  was  it  for  them  to  look  to  themselves. 
For  so  revolvingly  appalling  was  the  White  Whale's  aspect,  and 
so  planetarily  swift  the  ever-contracting  circles  he  made,  that 
he  seemed  horizontally  swooping  upon  them.     And  though  the 

*  This  motion  is  peculiar  to  the  sperm  whale.  It  receives  its  designa- 
tion (pitchpoling)  from  its  being  likened  to  that  preliminary  up-and- 
down  poise  of  the  whale-lance,  in  the  exercise  called  pitchpoling,  pre- 
viously described.  By  this  motion  the  whale  must  best  and  most 
comprehensively  view  whatever  objects  may  be  encircling  him. 


608  THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY. 

other  boats,  unharmed,  still  hovered  hard  by  ;  still  they  dared 
not  pull  into  the  eddy  to  strike,  lest  that  should  be  the  signal 
for  the  instant  destruction  of  the  jeopardized  castaways,  Ahab 
and  all ;  nor  in  that  case  could  they  themselves  hope  to  escape. 
With  straining  eyes,  then,  they  remained  on  the  outer  edge 
of  the  direful  zone,  whose  centre  had  now  become  the  old  man's 
head. 

Meantime,  from  the  beginning  all  this  had  been  descried  from 
the  ship's  mast  heads  ;  and  squaring  her  yards,  she  had  borne 
down  upon  the  scene  ;  and  was  now  so  nigh,  that  Ahab  in  the 
water  hailed  her  ; — "  Sail  on  the" — but  that  moment  a  breaking 
sea  dashed  on  him  from  Moby  Dick,  and  whelmed  him  for  the 
time.  But  struggling  out  of  it  again,  and  chancing  to  rise  on 
a  towering  crest,  he  shouted, — "  Sail  on  the  whale  ! — Drive  him 
off!" 

The  Pequod's  prows  were  pointed ;  and  breaking  up  the 
charmed  circle,  she  effectually  parted  the  white  whale  from  his 
victim.     As  he  sullenly  swam  off,  the  boats  flew  to  the  rescue. 

Dragged  into  Stubb's  boat  with  blood-shot,  blinded  eyes,  the 
white  brine  caking  in  his  wrinkles  ;  the  long  tension  of  Ahab's 
bodily  strength  did  crack,  and  helplessly  he  yielded  to  his  body's 
doom  :  for  a  time,  lying  all  crushed  in  the  bottom  of  Stubb's 
boat,  like  one  trodden  under  foot  of  herds  of  elephants.  Far 
inland,  nameless  wails  came  from  him,  as  desolate  sounds  from 
out  ravines. 

But  this  intensity  of  his  physical  prostration  did  but  so  much 
the  more  abbreviate  it.  In  an  instant's  compass,  great  hearts 
sometimes  condense  to  one  deep  pang,  the  sum  total  of  those 
shallow  pains  kindly  diffused  through  feebler  men's  whole  lives. 
And  so,  such  hearts,  though  summary  in  each  one  suffering ; 
still,  if  the  gods  decree  it,  in  their  life-time  aggregate  a  whole 
age  of  woe,  wholly  made  up  of  instantaneous  intensities ;  for 
even  in  their  pointless  centres,  those  noble  natures  contain  the 
entire  circumferences  of  inferior  souls. 


THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY.  609 

'•  The  harpoon,"  said  Ahab,  half  way  rising,  and  draggingly 
leaning  on  one  bended  arm — "  is  it  safe  ?" 

"  Aye,  sir,  for  it  was  not  darted ;  this  is  it,"  said  Stubb, 
showing  it. 

"  Lay  it  before  me  ; — any  missing  men  ?" 

"  One,  two,  three,  four,  five ; — there  were  five  oars,  sir,  and 
here  are  five  men." 

"  That's  good. — Help  me,  man ;  I  wish  to  stand.  So,  so, 
I  see  him  !  there  !  there  !  going  to  leeward  still ;  what  a  leaping 
spout ! — Hands  off  from  me !  The  eternal  sap  runs  up  in 
Ahab's  bones  again  !     Set  the  sail ;  out  oars ;  the  helm  !" 

It  is  often  the  case  that  when  a  boat  is  stove,  its  crew,  being 
picked  up  by  another  boat,  help  to  work  that  second  boat ;  and 
the  chase  is  thus  continued  with  what  is  called  double-banked 
oars.  It  was  thus  now.  But  the  added  power  of  the  boat  did 
not  equal  the  added  power  of  the  whale,  for  he  seemed  to  have 
treble-banked  his  every  fin ;  swimming  with  a  velocity  which 
plainly  showed,  that  if  now,  under  these  circumstances,  pushed 
on,  the  chase  would  prove  an  indefinitely  prolonged,  if  not  a 
hopeless  one ;  nor  could  any  crew  endure  for  so  long  a  period, 
such  an  unintermitted,  intense  straining  at  the  oar;  a  thing 
barely  tolerable  only  in  some  one  brief  vicissitude.  The  ship 
'  itself,  then,  as  it  sometimes  happens,  offered  the  most  promising 
intermediate  means  of  overtaking  the  chase.  Accordingly,  the 
boats  now  made  for  her,  and  were  soon  swayed  up  to  their 
cranes — the  two  parts  of  the  wrecked  boat  having  been 
previously  secured  by  her — and  then  hoisting  everything  to  her 
side,  and  stacking  her  canvas  high  up,  and  sideways  outstretch- 
ing it  with  stun-sails,  like  the  double-jointed  wings  of  an 
albatross ;  the  Pequod  bore  down  in  the  leeward  wake  of  Moby- 
Dick.  At  the  well  known,  methodic  intervals,  the  whale's 
glittering  spout  was  regularly  announced  from  the  manned 
mast-heads  ;  and  when  he  would  be  reported  as  just  gone  down, 
Ahab  would  take  the  time,  and  then  pacing  the  deck,  binnacle- 

26* 


610  THE    CHASE  — FIRST    DAY. 


watch  in  hand,  so  soon  as  the  last  second  of  the  allotted  hour 
expired,  his  voice  was  heard. — "  Whose  is  the  doubloon  now  ? 
D'ye  see  him  ?"  and  if  the  reply  was,  No,  sir  !  straightway  he 
commanded  them  to  lift  him  to  his  perch.  In  this  way  the 
day  wore  on ;  Ahab,  noAV  aloft  and  motionless  ;  anon,  unrestingly 
pacing  the  planks. 

As  he  was  thus  walking,  uttering  no  sound,  except  to  hail 
the  men  aloft,  or  to  bid  them  hoist  a  sail  still  higher,  or  to 
spread  one  to  a  still  greater  breadth — thus  to  and  fro  pacing, 
beneath  his  slouched  hat,  at  eveiy  turn  he  passed  his  own 
wrecked  boat,  which  had  been  dropped  upon  the  quarter-deck, 
and  lay  there  reversed ;  broken  bow  to  shattered  stern.  At  last 
he  paused  before  it ;  and  as  in  an  already  over-clouded  sky 
fresh  troops  of  clouds  will  sometimes  sail  across,  so  over  the  old 
man's  face  there  now  stole  some  such  added  gloom  as  this. 

Stubb  saw  him  pause;  and  perhaps  intending,  not  vainly, 
though,  to  evince  his  own  unabated  fortitude,  and  thus  keep  up 
a  valiant  place  in  his  Captain's  mind,  he  advanced,  and  eyeing 
the  wreck  exclaimed — "  The  thistle  the  ass  refused ;  it  pricked 
his  mouth  too  keenly,  sir ;  ha  !  ha !" 

"  What  soulless  thing  is  this  that  laughs  before  a  wreck  ? 
Man,  man  !  did  I  not  know  thee  brave  as  fearless  fire  (and  as 
mechanical)  I  could  swear  thou  wert  a  poltroon.  Groan  nor 
laugh  should  be  heard  before  a  wreck." 

"  Aye,  sir,"  said  Starbuck  drawing  near,  "  'tis  a  solemn  sight ; 
an  omen,  and  an  ill  one." 

"  Omen  ?  omen  ? — the  dictionary !  If  the  gods  think  to 
speak  outright  to  man,  they  will  honorably  speak  outright ;  not 
shake  their  heads,  and  give  an  old  wives'  darkling  hint. — 
Begone  !  Ye  two  are  the  opposite  poles  of  one  thing ;  Starbuck 
is  Stubb  reversed,  and  Stubb  is  Starbuck ;  and  ye  two  are  all 
mankind;  and  Ahab  stands  alone  among  the  millions  of  the 
peopled  earth,  nor  gods  nor  men  his  neighbors !  Cold, 
cold — I  shiver ! — Hoav  now  ?     Aloft   there  !     D'ye   see  him  ? 


THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY.  611 

Sing  out   for    every    spout,    though    he   spout   ten   times    a 
second !" 

The  day  was  nearly  done ;  only  the  hem  of  his  golden  robe 
was  rustling.  Soon,  it  was  almost  dark,  but  the  look-out  men 
still  remained  unset. 

"  Can't  see  the  spout  now,  sir  ; — too  dark  " — cried  a  voice 
from  the  air. 

"  How  heading  when  last  seen  ?" 

"  As  before,  sir, — straight  to  leeward." 

"  Good  !  he  will  travel  slower  now  'tis  night.  Down  royals 
and  top-gallant  stun-sails,  Mr.  Starbuck.  We  must  not  run  over 
him  before  morning ;  he's  making  a  passage  now,  and  may 
heave-to  a  while.  Helm  there  !  keep  her  full  before  the  wind  ! 
— Aloft !  come  down ! — Mr.  Stubb,  send  a  fresh  hand  to  the 
fore-mast  head,  and  see  it  manned  till  morning." — Then 
advancing  towards  the  doubloon  in  the  main-mast — "  Men,  this 
gold  is  mine,  for  I  earned  it ;  but  I  shall  let  it  abide  here  till 
the  White  Whale  is  dead ;  and  then,  whosoever  of  ye  first  raises 
him,  upon  the  day  he  shall  be  killed,  this  gold  is  that  man's ; 
and  if  on  that  day  I  shall  again  raise  him,  then,  ten  times  its 
sum  shall  be  divided  among  all  of  ye !  Away  now ! — the  deck 
is  thine,  sir." 

And  so  saying,  he  placed  himself  half  way  within  the  scuttle, 
and  slouching  his  hat,  stood  there  till  dawn,  except  when  at 
intervals  rousing  himself  to  see  how  the  night  wore  on. 


CHAPTER  CXXXIV. 

THE    CHASE SECOND    DAY. 

At  day-break,  the  three  mast-heads  were  punctually  manned 
afresh. 


f!12  THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY. 

"  D'ye  see  him  ?"  cried  Ahab,  after  allowing  a  little  space  for 
the  light  to  spread. 

"See  nothing,  sir." 

"  Turn  up  all  hands  and  make  sail !  he  travels  faster  than  1 
thought  for ; — the  top-gallant  sails  ! — aye,  they  should  have 
been  kept  on  her  all  night.  But  no  matter — 'tis  but  resting 
for  the  rush.'' 

Here  be  it  said,  that  this  pertinacious  pursuit  of  one  particu- 
lar whale,  continued  through  day  into  night,  and  through  night 
into  day,  is  a  thing  by  no  means  unprecedented  in  the  South 
sea  fishery.  For  such  is  the  wonderful  skill,  prescience  of 
experience,  and  invincible  confidence  acquired  by  some  great 
natural  geniuses  among  the  Nantucket  commanders ;  that  from 
the  simple  observation  of  a  whale  when  last  descried,  they  will, 
under  certain  given  circumstances,  pretty  accurately  foretell 
both  the  direction  in  which  he  will  continue  to  swim  for  a  time, 
while  out  of  sight,  as  well  as  his  probable  rate  of  progression 
during  that  period.  And,  in  these  cases,  somewhat  as  a  pilot, 
when  about  losing  sight  of  a  coast,  whose  general  trending  he 
well  knows,  and  which  he  desires  shortly  to  return  to  again, 
but  at  some  further  point ;  like  as  this  pilot  stands  by  his  com- 
pass, and  takes  the  precise  bearing  of  the  cape  at  present  visible, 
in  order  the  more  certainly  to  hit  aright  the  remote,  unseen 
headland,  eventually  to  be  visited :  so  does  the  fisherman,  at 
his  compass,  with  the  whale ;  for  after  being  chased,  and  dili- 
gently marked,  through  several  hours  of  daylight,  then,  when 
night  obscures  the  fish,  the  creature's  future  wake  through  the 
darkness  is  almost  as  established  to  the  sagacious  mind  of  the 
hunter,  as  the  pilot's  coast  is  to  him.  So  that  to  this  hunter's 
wondrous  skill,  the  proverbial  evanescence  of  a  thing  writ  in 
water,  a  wake,  is  to  all  desired  purposes  well  nigh  as  reliable  as 
the  steadfast  land.  And  as  the  mighty  iron  Leviathan  of  the 
modern  railway  is  so  familiarly  known  in  its  every  pace,  that, 
with  watches   in    their  hands,  men  time  his   rate  as    doctors 


THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY.  613 

that  of  a  baby's  pulse  ;  and  lightly  say  of  it,  the  up  train  or  the 
down  train  will  reach  such  or  such  a  spot,  at  such  or  such  an 
hour ;  even  so,  almost,  there  are  occasions  when  these  Nan- 
tucketers  time  that  other  Leviathan  of  the  deep,  according  to 
the  observed  humor  of  his  speed ;  and  say  to  themselves,  so 
many  hours  hence  this  whale  will  have  gone  two  hundred  miles, 
will  have  about  reached  this  or  that  degree  of  latitude  or 
longitude.  But  to  render  this  acutenass  at  all  successful  in  the 
end,  the  wind  and  the  sea  must  be  the  whaleman's  allies ;  for 
of  what  present  avail  to  the  becalmed  or  windbound  marine]'  is 
the  skill  that  assures  him  he  is  exactly  ninety-three  leagues  and 
a  quarter  from  his  port  ?  Inferable  from  these  statements,  are 
many  collateral  subtile  matters  touching  the  chase  of  whales. 

The  ship  tore  on ;  leaving  such  a  furrow  in  the  sea  as  when 
a  cannon-ball,  missent,  becomes  a  plough-share  and  turns  up  the 
level  field. 

"  By  salt  and  hemp !"  cried  Stubb,  "  but  this  swift  motion  of 
the  deck  creeps  up  one's  legs  and  tingles  at  the  heart.  This 
ship  and  I  are  two  brave  fellows  ! — Ha  !  ha !  Some  one  take 
me  up,  and  launch  me,  spine-wise,  on  the  sea, — for  by  live-oaks  ! 
my  spine's  a  keel.  Ha,  ha !  we  go  the  gait  that  leaves  no  dust 
behind !" 

"  There  she  blows — she  blows  ! — she  blows  ! — right  ahead  !" 
was  now  the  mast-head  cry. 

"  Aye,  aye  !"  cried  Stubb,  "  I  knew  it — ye  can't  escape — blow 
on  and  split  your  spout,  O  whale !  the  mad  fiend  himself  is 
after  ye !  blow  your  trump — blister  your  lungs ! — Ahab  will 
dam  off  your  blood,  as  a  miller  shuts  his  water-gate  upon  the 
stream !" 

And  Stubb  did  but  speak  out  for  well  nigh  all  that  crew. 
The  frenzies  of  the  chase  had  by  this  time  worked  them  bub- 
blingly  up,  like  old  wine  worked  anew.  Whatever  pale  fears 
and  forebodings  some  of  them  might  have  felt  before  ;  these 
were  not  only  now  kept  out  of  sight  through  the  growing  aAve 


614  THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY. 

of  Ahab,  but  they  were  broken  up,  and  on  all  sides  routed,  as 
timid  prairie  hares  that  scatter  before  the  bounding  bison.  The 
hand  of  Fate  had  snatched  all  their  souls  ;  and  by  the  stirring 
perils  of  the  previous  day ;  the  rack  of  the  past  night's  suspense ; 
the  fixed,  unfearing,  blind,  reckless  way  in  which  their  wild  craft 
went  plunging  towards  its  flying  mark ;  by  all  these  things, 
their  hearts  were  bowled  along.  The  wind  that  made  great 
bellies  of  their  sails,  and  rushed  the  vessel  on  by  arms  invisible 
as  irresistible ;  this  seemed  the  symbol  of  that  unseen  agency 
which  so  enslaved  them  to  the  race. 

They  were  one  man,  not  thirty.  For  as  the  one  ship  that 
held  them  all ;  though  it  was  put  together  of  all  contrasting 
things — oak,  and  maple,  and  pine  wood ;  iron,  and  pitch,  and 
hemp — yet  all  these  ran  into  each  other  in  the  one  concrete 
hull,  which  shot  on  its  way,  both  balanced  and  directed  by  the 
long  central  keel ;  even  so,  all  the  individualities  of  the  crew, 
this  man's  valor,  that  man's  fear;  guilt  and  guiltiness,  all 
varieties  were  welded  into  oneness,  and  were  all  directed  to 
that  fatal  goal  which  Ahab  their  one  lord  and  keel  did  point 
to. 

The  rigging  lived.  The  mast-heads,  like  the  tops  of  tall 
palms,  were  outspreadingly  tufted  with  arms  and  legs.  Cling- 
ing to  a  spar  with  one  hand,  some  reached  forth  the  other  with 
impatient  wavings ;  others,  shading  their  eyes  from  the  vivid 
sunlight,  sat  far  out  on  the  rocking  yards ;  all  the  spars  in  full 
bearing  of  mortals,  ready  and  ripe  for  their  fate.  Ah !  how  they 
still  strove  through  that  infinite  blueness  to  seek  out  the  thing 
that  might  destroy  them  ! 

"  Why  sing  ye  not  out  for  him,  if  ye  see  him  ?"  cried  Ahab, 
when,  after  the  lapse  of  some  minutes  since  the  first  cry,  no 
more  had  been  heard.  "Sway  me  up,  men;  ye  have  been 
deceived  ;  not  Moby  Dick  casts  one  odd  jet  that  way,  and  then 
disappears/' 

It  was  even  so ;  in  their  headlong  eagerness,  the  men  had 


THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY.  615 

mistaken  some  other  thing  for  the  whale-spout,  as  the  event 
itself  soon  jjroved ;  for  hardly  bad  Ahab  reached  his  perch ; 
hardly  was  the  rope  belayed  to  its  pin  on  deck,  when  he  struck 
tbe  key-note  to  an  orchestra,  that  made  the  air  vibrate  as  with 
the  combined  discharges  of  rifles.  The  triumphant  halloo  of 
thirty  buckskin  lungs  was  heard,  as — much  nearer  to  the  ship 
than  the  place  of  the  imaginary  jet,  less  than  a  mile  ahead — 
Moby  Dick  bodily  burst  into  view !  For  not  by  any  calm  and 
indolent  spoutings ;  not  by  the  peaceable  gush  of  that  mystic 
fountain  in  his  head,  did  the  White  Whale  now  reveal  his  vici- 
nity ;  but  by  the  far  more  wondrous  phenomenon  of  breaching. 
Rising  with  his  utmost  velocity  from  the  furthest  depths,  the 
Sperm  Whale  thus  booms  his  entire  bulk  into  the  pure  element 
of  air,  and  piling  up  a  mountain  of  dazzling  foam,  shows  his 
place  to  the  distance  of  seven  miles  and  more.  In  those 
moments,  the  torn,  enraged  waves  he  shakes  off,  seem  his 
mane ;  in  some  cases,  this  breaching  is  his  act  of  defiance. 

"  There  she  breaches  !  there  she  breaches  !"  was  the  cry,  as 
in  his  immeasurable  bravadoes  the  White  Whale  tossed  himself 
salmon-like  to  Heaven.  So  suddenly  seen  in  the  blue  plain  of 
the  sea,  and  relieved  against  the  still  bluer  margin  of  the  sky, 
the  spray  that  he  raised,  for  the  moment,  intolerably  glittered 
and  glared  like  a  glacier ;  and  stood  there  gradually  fading  and 
fading  away  from  its  first  sparkling  intensity,  to  the  dim  misti- 
ness of  an  advancing  shower  in  a  vale. 

"  Aye,  breach  your  last  to  the  sun,  Moby  Dick  !"  cried  Ahab, 
"  thy  hour  and  thy  harpoon  are  at  hand ! — Down  !  down  all 
of  ye,  but  one  man  at  the  fore.     The  boats  ! — stand  by  !" 

Unmindful  of  the  tedious  rope-ladders  of  the  shrouds,  the 
men,  like  shooting  stars,  slid  to  the  deck,  by  the  isolated  back- 
stays and  halyards ;  while  Ahab,  less  dartingly,  but  still  rapidly 
was  dropped  from  his  perch. 

"  Lower  away,"  he  cried,  so  soon  as  he  had  reached  his  boat 
— a  spare  one,  rigged  the  afternoon  previous.     "  Mr.  Starbuck, 


616  THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY. 

the  ship  is  thine — keep  away  from  the  boats,  but  keep  near 
them.     Lower,  all !" 

As  if  to  strike  a  quick  terror  into  them,  by  this  time  being 
the  first  assailant  himself,  Moby  Dick  had  turned,  and  was  now 
coming  for  the  three  crews.  Ahab's  boat  was  central;  and 
cheering  his  men,  he  told  them  he  would  take  the  whale  head- 
and-head, — that  is,  pull  straight  up  to  his  forehead, — a  not 
uncommon  thing ;  for  when  within  a  certain  limit,  such  a  course 
excludes  the  coming  onset  from  the  whale's  sidelong  vision. 
But  ere  that  close  limit  was  gained,  and  while  yet  all  three 
boats  were  plain  as  the  ship's  three  masts  to  his  eye  ;  the  White 
Whale  churning  himself  into  furious  speed,  almost  in  an  instant 
as  it  were,  rushing  among  the  boats  with  open  jaws,  and  a 
lashing  tail,  offered  appalling  battle  on  every  side ;  and  heedless 
of  the  irons  darted  at  him  from  every  boat,  seemed  only  intent 
on  annihilating  each  separate  plank  of  which  those  boats  were 
made.  But  skilfully  manoeuvred,  incessantly  wheeling  like 
trained  chargers  in  the  field  ;  the  boats  for  a  while  eluded  him ; 
though,  at  times,  but  by  a  plank's  breadth ;  while  all  the  time, 
Ahab's  unearthly  slogan  tore  every  other  cry  but  his  to  shreds. 

But  at  last  in  his  untraceable  evolutions,  the  White  Whale  so 
crossed  and  recrossed,  and  in  a  thousand  ways  entangled  the 
slack  of  the  three  lines  now  fast  to  him,  that  they  foreshortened, 
and,  of  themselves,  warped  the  devoted  boats  towards  the 
planted  irons  in  him ;  though  now  for  a  moment  the  whale 
drew  aside  a  little,  as  if  to  rally  for  a  more  tremendous  charge. 
Seizing  that  opportunity,  Ahab  first  paid  out  more  line :  and 
then  was  rapidly  hauling  and  jerking  in  upon  it  again — hoping 
that  way  to  disencumber  it  of  some  snarls — when  lo  ! — a  sight 
more  savage  than  the  embattled  teeth  of  sharks ! 

Caught  and  twisted — corkscrewed  in  the  mazes  of  the  line, 
loose  harpoons  and  lances,  with  all  their  bristling  barbs  and 
points,  came  flashing  and  dripping  up  to  the  chocks  in  the  bows 
of  Ahab's  boat.     Only  one  thing  could  be  done.     Seizing  the 


THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY.  617 

boat-knife,  he  critically  reached  -within — through — and  then, 
without — the  rays  of  steel ;  dragged  in  the  line  beyond,  passed 
it,  inboard,  to  the  bowsman,  and  then,  twice  sundering  the  rope 
near  the  chocks — dropped  the  intercepted  fagot  of  steel  into 
the  sea;  and  was  all  fast  again.  That  instant,  the  White 
Whale  made  a  sudden  rush  among  the  remaining  tangles  of  the 
other  lines ;  by  so  doing,  irresistibly  dragged  the  more  involved 
boats  of  Stubb  and  Flask  towards  his  flukes ;  dashed  them 
together  like  two  rolling  husks  on  a  surf-beaten  beach,  and 
then,  diving  down  into  the  sea,  disappeared  in  a  boiling  mael- 
strom, in  which,  for  a  space,  the  odorous  cedar  chips  of  the 
wrecks  danced  round  and  round,  like  the  grated  nutmeg  in  a 
swiftly  stirred  bowl  of  punch. 

While  the  two  crews  were  yet  circling  in  the  waters,  reaching 
out  after  the  revolving  line-tubs,  oars,  and  other  floating  furniture, 
while  aslope'  little  Flask  bobbed  up  and  down  like  an  empty 
vial,  twitching  his  legs  upwards  to  escape  the  dreaded  jaws  of 
sharks  ;  and  Stubb  was  lustily  singing  out  for  some  one  to  ladle 
him  up  ;  and  while  the  old  man's  line — now  parting — admitted 
of  his  pulling  into  the  creamy  pool  to  rescue  whom  he  could  ; — 
in  that  wild  simultaneousness  of  a  thousand  concreted  perils, 
. — Ahab's  yet  unstricken  boat  seemed  drawn  up  towards  Heaven 
by  invisible  wires, — as,  arrow-like,  shooting  perpendicularly  from 
the  sea,  the  White  Whale  dashed  his  broad  forehead  against 
its  bottom,  and  sent  it,  turning  over  and  over,  into  the  air ;  till 
it  fell  again — gunwale  downwards — and  Ahab  and  his  men 
struggled  out  from  under  it,  like  seals  from  a  sea-side  cave. 

The  first  uprising  momentum  of  the  whale — modifying  its 
direction  as  he  struck  the  surface — involuntarily  launched  him 
along  it,  to  a  little  distance  from  the  centre  of  the  destruction 
he  had  made ;  and  with  his  back  to  it,  he  now  lay  for  a  moment 
slowly  feeling  with  his  flukes  from  side  to  side  ;  and  whenever 
a  stray  oar,  bit  of  plank,  the  least  chip  or  crumb  of  the  boats 
touched  his  skin,  his  tail  swiftly  drew  back,  and  came  sideways 


618  THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY. 

smiting  the  sea.  But  soon,  as  if  satisfied  that  his  work  for  that 
time  was  done,  he  pushed  his  pleated  forehead  through  the 
ocean,  and  trailing  after  him  the  intertangled  lines,  continued 
his  leeward  way  at  a  traveller's  methodic  pace. 

As 'before,  the  attentive  ship  having  descried  the  whole  fight, 
again  came  bearing  down  to  the  rescue,  and  dropping  a  boat, 
picked  up  the  floating  mariners,  tubs,  oars,  and  whatever  else 
could  be  caught  at,  and  safely  landed  them  on  her  decks.  Some 
sprained  shoulders,  wrists,  and  ankles ;  livid  contusions  ;  wrenched 
harpoons  and  lances  ;  inextricable  intricacies  of  rope  ;  shattered 
oars  and  planks ;  all  these  were  there ;  but  no  fatal  or  even 
serious  ill  seemed  to  have  befallen  any  one.  As  with  Fedallah 
the  day  before,  so  Ahab  was  now  found  grimly  clinging  to  his 
boat's  broken  half,  which  afforded  a  comparatively  easy  float ; 
nor  did  it  so  exhaust  him  as  the  previous  day's  mishap. 

But  when  he  was  helped  to  the  deck,  all  eyes  were  fastened 
upon  him  ;  as  instead  of  standing  by  himself  he  still  half-hitng 
upon  the  shoulder  of  Starbuck,  who  had  thus  far  been  the  fore- 
most to  assist  him.  His  ivory  leg  had  been  snapped  off,  leaving 
but  one  short  sharp  splinter. 

"Aye  aye,  Starbuck,  'tis  sweet  to  lean  sometimes,  be  the 
leaner  who  he  will ;  and  would  old  Ahab  had  leaned  oftener 
than  he  has." 

"The  ferrule  has  not  stood,  sir,"  said  the  carpenter,  now 
coming  up  ;  "  I  put  good  work  into  that  leg." 

"But  no  bones  broken,  sir,  I  hope,"  said  Stubb  with  true 
concern. 

"  Aye  !  and  all  splintered  to  pieces,  Stubb ! — d'ye  see  it. — But 
even  with  a  broken  bone,  old  Ahab  is  untouched  ;  and  I  account 
no  living  bone  of  mine  one  jot  more  me,  than  this  dead  one 
that's  lost.  Nor  white  whale,  nor  man,  nor  fiend,  can  so  much 
as  graze  old  Ahab  in  his  own  proper  and  inaccessible  being 
Can  any  lead  touch  yonder  floor,  any  mast  scrape  yonder  roof  ? — 
Aloft  there  !  which  way  ?" 


THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY.  619 


"  Dead  to  leeward,  sir." 

"  Up  helm,  then  ;  pile  on  the  sail  again,  ship  keepers  !  down 
the  rest  of  the  spare  boats  and  rig  them — Mr.  Starbuck  away> 
and  muster  the  boat's  crews." 

"  Let  me  first  help  thee  towards  the  bulwarks,  sir." 

"  Oh,  oh,  oh  !  how  this  splinter  gores  me  now  !  Accursed 
fate !  that  the  unconquerable  captain  in  the  soul  should  have 
such  a  craven  mate  !" 

"Sir?" 

"  My  body,  man,  not  thee.  Uive  me  something  for  a  cane — ■ 
there,  that  shivered  lance  will  do.  Muster  the  men.  Surely  I 
have  not  seen  him  yet.  By  hoaven  it  cannot  be  ! — missing  ? — 
quick  !  call  them  all."  -  „ 

The  old  man's  hinted  thought  was  true.  Upon  mustering 
the  company,  the  Parsee  wa.-:  not  there. 

"  The  Parsee  !"  cried  Stubb — "  he  must  have  been  caught 


"  The  black  vomit  wrenclj  thee  ! — run  all  of  ye  above,  alow, 
cabin,  forecastle — find  him — not  gone — not  gone  !" 

But  quickly  they  returned  to  him  with  the  tidings  that  the 
Parsee  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 

"  Aye,  sir,"  said  Stubb — "  caught  among  the  tangles  of  your 
line — I  thought  I  saw  him  dragging  under." 

"  My  line  !  my  line  ?  Gone  ? — gone  ?  What  means  that 
little  word  ? — What  death-knell  rings  in  it,  that  old  Ahab  shakes 
as  if  he  were  the  belfry.  The  harpoon,  too  ! — toss  over  the 
litter  there, — d'ye  see  it  ? — the  forged  iron,  men,  the  white 
whale's — no,  no,  no, — blistered  fool !  this  hand  did  dart  it ! — 'tis 
in  the  fish  ! — Aloft  there  !  Keep  him  nailed — Quick  ! — all 
hands  to  the  rigging  of  the  boats — collect  the  oars — harpooneers  ! 
the  irons,  the  irons  ! — hoist  the  royals  higher — a  pull  on  all  the 
sheets  ! — helm  there  !  steady,  steady  for  your  life  !  I'll  ten 
times  girdle  the  unmeasured  globe ;  yea  and  dive  straight 
through  it,  but  I'll  slay  him  yet !" 


fi20  THE    CHASE  — SECOND    DAY. 


"  Great  God  !  but  for  one  single  instant  show  thyself,"  cried 
Starbuck  ;  "  never,  never  wilt  thou  capture  him,  old  man — In 
Jesus'  name  no  more  of  this,  that's  worse  than  devil's  madness. 
Two  days  chased ;  twice  stove  to  splinters ;  thy  very  leg  once 
more  snatched  from  under  thee  ;  thy  evil  shadow  gone — all 
good  angels  mobbing  thee  with  warnings  : — what  more  wouldst 
thou  have  ? — Shall  we  keep  chasing  this  murderous  fish  till 
he  swamps  the  last  man  ?  Shall  we  be  dragged  by  him  to 
the  bottom  of  the  sea  ?  Shall  we  be  towed  by  him  to  the 
infernal  world  ?  Oh,  oh, — Impiety  and  blasphemy  to  hunt 
him  more  !" 

"  Starbuck,  of  late  I've  felt  strangely  moved  to  thee ;  ever 
since  that  hour  we  both  saw — thou  know'st  what,  in  one  another's 
eyes.  But  in  this  matter  of  the  whale,  be  the  front  of  thy 
face  to  me  as  the  palm  of  this  hand — a  lipless,  unfeatured  blank. 
Ahab  is  for  ever  Ahab,  man.  This  whole  act's  immutably  de- 
creed. 'Twas  rehearsed  by  thee  and  me  a  billion  years  before 
this  ocean  rolled.  Fool !  I  am  the  Fates'  lieutenant ;  I  act  under 
orders.  Look  thou,  underling !  that  thou  obeyest  mine. — Stand 
round  me,  men.  Ye  see  an  old  man  cut  down  to  the  stump ; 
leaning  on  a  shivered  lance  ;  propped  up  on  a  lonely  foot.  'Tis 
Ahab — his  body's  part ;  but  Ahab's  soul's  a  centipede,  that 
moves  upon  a  hundred  legs.  I  feel  strained,  half  stranded,  as 
ropes  that  tow  dismasted  frigates  in  a  gale  ;  and  I  may  look  so. 
But  ere  I  break,  ye'll  hear  me  crack ;  and  till  ye  hear  that, 
know  that  Ahab's  hawser  tows  his  purpose  yet.  Believe  ye, 
men,  in  the  things  called  omens  ?  Then  laugh  aloud,  and  cry 
encore  !  For  ere  they  drown,  drowning  things  will  twice  rise 
to  the  surface  ;  then  rise  again,  to  sink  for  evermore.  So  with 
Moby  Dick — two  days  he's  floated — to-morrow  will  be  the  third. 
Aye,  men,  he'll  rise  once  more, — but  only  to  spout  his  last ! 
D'ye  feel  brave  men,  brave  ?" 

"  As  fearless  fire,"  cried  Stubb. 

"And  as  mechanical,"  muttered  Ahab.     Then  as  the  men 


THE    CHASE— THIRD    DAY.  621 

went  forward,  he  muttered  on  : — "  The  things  called  omens  ! 
And  yesterday  I  talked  the  same  to  Starbuck  there,  concerning 
my  broken  boat.  Oh !  how  valiantly  I  seek  to  drive  out  of 
others'  hearts  what's  clinched  so  fast  in  mine  ! — The  Parsee — 
the  Parsee  ! — gone,  gone  ?  and  he  was  to  go  before  : — but  still 
was  to  be  seen  again  ere  I  could  perish — How's  that  ? — There's 
a  riddle  now  might  baffle  all  the  lawyers  backed  by  the  ghosts 
of  the  whole  line  of  judges  : — like  a  hawk's  beak  it  pecks  my 
brain.     Til,  Til  solve  it,  though  !" 

"When  dusk  descended,  the  whale  was  still  in  sight  to  leeward. 

So  once  more  the  sail  was  shortened,  and  everything  passed 
nearly  as  on  the  previous  night ;  only,  the  sound  of  hammers, 
and  the  hum  of  the  grindstone  was  heard  till  nearly  daylight, 
as  the  men  toiled  by  lanterns  in  the  complete  and  careful  rig- 
ging of  the  spare  boats  and  sharpening  their  fresh  weapons  for 
the  morrow.  Meantime,  of  the  broken  keel  of  Ahab's  wrecked 
craft  the  carpenter  made  him  another  leg  ;  while  still  as  on  the 
night  before,  slouched  Ahab  stood  fixed  within  his  scuttle  ;  his 
hid,  heliotrope  glance  anticipatingly  gone  backward  on  its  dial ; 
sat  due  eastward  for  the  earliest  sun. 


CHAPTER  CXXXV. 

THE    CHASE. THIRD    DAY. 

The  morning  of  the  third  day  dawned  fair  and  fresh,  and 
once  more  the  solitary  night-man  at  the  fore-mast-head  was 
relieved  by  crowds  of  the  daylight  look-outs,  who  dotted  every 
mast  and  almost  every  spar. 

"  D'ye  see  him  ?"  cried  Ahab ;  but  the  whale  was  not  yet  in 
sight. 

"  In  his  infallible  wake,  though ;  but  follow  that  wake,  that's 


622  THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY. 


all.  Helm  there ;  steady,  as  thou  goest,  and  hast  been  going. 
What  a  lovely  day  again!  were  it  a  new-made  world,  and 
made  for  a  summer-house  to  the  angels,  and  this  morning  the 
first  of  its  throwing  open  to  them,  a  fairer  day  could  not  dawn 
upon  that  world.  Here's  food  for  thought,  had  Ahab  time  to 
think  ;  but  Ahab  never  thinks ;  he  only  feels,  feels,  feels  ;  that's 
tingling  enough  for  mortal  man !  to  think's  audacity.  God 
only  has  that  right  and  privilege.  Thinking  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
a  coolness  and  a  calmness  ;  and  our  poor  hearts  throb,  and  our 
poor  brains  beat  too  much  for  that.  And  yet,  I've  sometimes 
thought  my  brain  was  very  calm — frozen  calm,  this  old  skull 
cracks  so,  like  a  glass  in  which  the  contents  turned  to  ice,  and 
shiver  it.  And  still  this  hair  is  growing  now ;  this  moment 
growing,  and  heat  must  breed  it ;  but  no,  it's  like  that  sort 
of  common  grass  that  will  grow  anywhere,  between  the  earthy 
clefts  of  Greenland  ice  or  in  Vesuvius  lava.  How  the  wild 
winds  blow  it ;  they  whip  it  about  me  as  the  torn  shreds 
of  split  sails  lash  the  tossed  ship  they  cling  to.  A  vile  wind 
that  has  no  doubt  blown  ere  this  through  prison  corridors  and 
cells,  and  wards  of  hospitals,  and  ventilated  them,  and  now 
comes  blowing  hither  as  innocent  as  fleeces.  Out  upon  it ! — 
it's  tainted.  Were  I  the  wind,  I'd  blow  no  more  on  such  a 
wicked,  miserable  world.  I'd  crawl  somewhere  to  a  cave,  and 
slink  there.  And  yet,  'tis  a  noble  and  heroic  thing,  the  wind ! 
who  ever  conquered  it  ?  In  every  fight  it  has  the  last  and 
bitterest  blow.  Kun  tilting  at  it,  and  you  but  run  through  it. 
Ha !  a  coward  wind  that  strikes  stark  naked  men,  but  will  not 
stand  to  receive  a  single  blow.  Even  Ahab  is  a  braver  thing — 
a  nobler  thing  than  that.  Would  now  the  wind  but  had  a 
body ;  but  all  the  things  that  most  exasperate  and  outrage 
mortal  man,  all  these  things  are  bodiless,  but  only  bodiless 
as  objects,  not  as  agents.  There's  a  most  special,  a  most  cun- 
ning, oh,  a  most  malicious  difference!  And  yet,  I  say  again, 
and  swear  it  now,  that  there's  something  all  glorious  and  gra- 


THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY.  623 

cious  in  the  wind.  These  warm  Trade  Winds,  at  least,  that  in 
the  clear  heavens  blow  straight  on,  in  strong  and  steadfast, 
vigorous  mildness  ;  and  veer  not  from  their  mark,  however  the 
baser  currents  of  the  sea  may  turn  and  tack,  and  mightiest 
Mississippies  of  the  land  swift  and  swerve  about,  uncertain 
where  to  go  at  last.  And  by  the  eternal  Poles !  these  same 
Trades  that  so  directly  blow  my  good  ship  on;  these  Trades,  or 
something  like  them — something  so  unchangeable,  and  full  as 
strong,  blow  my  keeled  soul  along !  To  it !  Aloft  there  ! 
What  d'ye  see  ?" 

"  Nothing,  sir." 

"  Nothing  !  and  noon  at  hand  !  The  doubloon  goes  a-beg- 
ging !  See  the  sun  !  Aye,  aye,  it  must  be  so.  I've  oversailed 
him.  How,  got  the  start  ?  Aye,  he's  chasing  me  now ;  not 
I,  him — that's  bad ;  I  might  have  known  it,  too-  Fool !  the 
lines — the  harpoons  he's  towing.  Aye,  aye,  I  have  run  him 
by  last  night.  About !  about !  Come  down,  all  of  ye,  but  the 
regular  look  outs  !     Man  the  braces  !" 

Steering  as  she  had  done,  the  wind  had  been  somewhat 
on  the  Pequod's  quarter,  so  that  now  being  r>ointed  in  the 
reverse  direction,  the  braced  ship  sailed  hard  upon  the  breeze 
as  she  rechurned  the  cream  in  her  own  white  wake. 

"  Against  the  wind  he  now  steers  for  the  open  jaw,"  mur- 
mured Starbuck  to  himself,  as  he  coiled  the  new-hauled  main- 
brace  upon  the  rail.  "  God  keep  us,  but  already  my  bones  feel 
damp  within  me,  and  from  the  inside  wet  my  flesh.  I  mis- 
doubt me  that  I  disobey  my  God  in  obeying  him  !" 

"  Stand  by  to  sway  me  up !"  cried  Ahab,  advancing  to  the 
hempen  basket.     "  We  should  meet  him  soon." 

"  Aye,  aye,  sir,"  and  straightway  Starbuck  did  Ahab's  bid- 
ding, and  once  more  Ahab  swung  on  high. 

A  whole  hour  now  passed ;  gold-beaten  out  to  ages.  Time 
itself  now  held  long  breaths  with  keen  suspense.  But  at  last, 
some  three  points  off  the  weather  bow,  Ahab  descried  the  spout 


024  THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY. 

again,  and  instantly  from  the  three  mast-heads  three  shrieks 
went  up  as  if  the  tongues  of  fire  had  voiced  it. 

"  Forehead  to  forehead  I  meet  thee,  this  third  time,  Moby- 
Dick  !  On  deck  there ! — brace  sharper  up ;  crowd  her  into 
the  wind's  eye.  He's  too  far  off  to  lower  yet,  Mr.  Starbuck. 
The  sails  shake  !  Stand  over  that  helmsman  with  a  top-maul ! 
So,  so ;  he  travels  fast,  and  I  must  down.  But  let  me  have 
one  more  good  round  look  aloft  here  at  the  sea ;  there's  time 
for  that.  An  old,  old  sight,  and  yet  somehow  so  young  ;  aye, 
and  not  changed  a  wink  since  I  first  saw  it,  a  boy,  from  the 
sand-hills  of  Nantucket !  The  same  ! — the  same  ! — the  same  to 
Noah  as  to  me.  There's  a  soft  shower  to  leeward.  Such  lovely 
leewardings  !  They  must  lead  somewhere — to  something  else 
than  common  land,  more  palmy  than  the  palms.  Leeward ! 
the  white  whale  goes  that  way ;  look  to  windward,  then ;  the 
better  if  the  bitterer  quarter.  But  good  bye,  good  bye,  old 
mast-head !  What's  this  ? — green  ?  aye,  tiny  mosses  in  these 
warped  cracks.  No  such  green  weather  stains  on  Ahab's  head  ! 
There's  the  difference  now  between  man's  old  age  and  matter's. 
But  aye,  old  mast,  we  both  grow  old  together ;  sound  in  our 
hulls,  though,  are  we  not,  my  ship  ?  Aye,  minus  a  leg,  that's  all. 
By  heaven  this  dead  wood  has  the  better  of  my  live  flesh  every 
way.  I  can't  compare  with  it ;  and  I've  known  some  ships 
made  of  dead  trees  outlast  the  lives  of  men  made  of  the 
most  vital  stuff  of  vital  fathers.  What's  that  he  said  ?  he 
should  still  go  before  me,  my  pilot;  and  yet  to  be  seen 
again  ?  But  where  ?  Will  I  have  eyes  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  supposing  I  descend  those  endless  stairs  ?  and  all 
night  I've  been  sailing  from  him,  wherever  he  did  sink 
to.  Aye,  aye,  like  many  more  thou  told'st  direful  truth  as 
touching  thyself,  O  Parsee ;  but,  Ahab,  there  thy  shot  fell 
short.  Good  by,  mast-head — keep  a  good  eye  upon  the  whale, 
the  while  I'm  gone.  We'll  talk  to-morrow,  nay,  to-night, 
when  the  white  whale  lies  down  there,  tied  by  head  and  tail." 


THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY.  625 

He  gave  the  word ;  and  still  gazing  round  him,  was  steadily 
lowered  through  the  cloven  blue  air  to  the  deck. 

In  due  time  the  boats  were  lowered  ;  but  as  standing  in  his 
shallop's  stern,  Ahab  just  hovered  upon  the  point  of  the  descent, 
he  waved  to  the  mate, — who  held  one  of  the  tackle-ropes  on 
deck — and  bade  him  pause. 

"Starbuck!" 

"Sir?" 

"  For  the  third  time  my  soul's  ship  starts  upon  this  voyage, 
Starbuck." 

"Aye,  sir,  thou  wilt  have  it  so." 

"  Some  ships  sail  from  their  ports,  and  ever  afterwards  are 
missing,  Starbuck !" 

"  Truth,  sir  :  saddest  truth." 

"  Some  men  die  at  ebb  tide ;  some  at  low  water ;  some  at 
the  full  of  the  flood  ; — and  I  feel  now  like  a  billow  that's  all  one 
crested  comb,  Starbuck.  I  am  old ; — shake  hands  with  me,  man." 

Their  hands  met ;  their  eyes  fastened ;  Starbuck's  tears  the 
glue. 

"Oh,  my  captain,  my  captain! — noble  heart — go  not — go 
not ! — see,  it's  a  brave  man  that  weeps  ;  how  great  the  agony 
of  the  .persuasion  then  !" 

"  Lower  away !" — cried  Ahab,  tossing  the  mate's  arm  from 
him.     "  Stand  by  the  crew  !" 

In  an  instant  the  boat  was  pulling  round  close  under  the  stern. 

"  The  sharks  !  the  sharks  !"  cried  a  voice  from  the  low  cabin- 
window  there  ;  "  O  master,  my  master,  come  back  !" 

But  Ahab  heard  nothing  ;  for  his  own  voice  was  high-lifted 
then  ;  and  the  boat  leaped  on. 

Yet  the  voice  spake  true  ;  for  scarce  had  he  pushed  from  the 
ship,  when  numbers  of  sharks,  seemingly  rising  from  out  the 
dark  waters  beneath  the  hull,  maliciously  snapped  at  the  blade « 
of  the  oars,  every  time  they  dipped  in  the  water ;  and  in  thk 
way  accompanied  the  boat  with  their  bites.     It  is  a  thing  not 

27 


626  THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY. 

uncommonly  happening  to  the  whale-boats  in  those  swarming 
seas  ;  the  sharks  at  times  apparently  following  them  in  the  same 
prescient  way  that  vultures  hover  over  the  banners  of  marching 
regiments  in  the  east.  But  these  were  the  first  sharks  that  had 
been  observed  by  the  Pequod  since  the  White  Whale  had  been 
first  descried ;  and  whether  it  was  that  Ahab's  crew  were  all 
such  tiger-yellow  barbarians,  and  therefore  their  flesh  more 
musky  to  the  senses  of  the  sharks — a  matter  sometimes  well 
known  to  affect  them, — however  it  was,  they  seemed  to  follow 
that  one  boat  without  molesting  the  others. 

"  Heart  of  wrought  steel !"  murmured  Starbuck  gazing  over 
the  side,  and  following  with  his  eyes  the  receding  boat — "  canst 
thou  yet  ring  boldly  to  that  sight  ? — lowering  thy  keel  among 
ravening  sharks,  and  followed  by  them,  open-mouthed  to  the 
chase  ;  and  this  the  critical  third  day  ? — For  when  three  days  flow 
together  in  one  continuous  intense  pursuit ;  be  sure  the  first  is 
the  morning,  the  second  the  noon,  and  the  third  the  evening 
and  the  end  of  that  thing — be  that  end  what  it  may.  Oh  !  my 
God  !  what  is  this  that  shoots  through  me,  and  leaves  me  so 
deadly  calm,  yet  expectant, — fixed  at  the  top  of  a  shudder ! 
Future  things  swim  before  me,  as  in  empty  outlines  and  skele- 
tons ;  all  the  past  is  somehow  grown  dim.  Mary,  girl !  thou 
fadest  in  pale  glories  behind  me  ;  boy  !  I  seem  to  see  but  thy 
eyes  grown  wondrous  blue.  Strangest  problems  of  life  seem 
clearing ;  but  clouds  sweep  between — Is  my  journey's  end 
coming  ?  My  legs  feel  faint ;  like  his  who  has  footed  it  all  day. 
Feel  thy  heart, — beats  it  yet  ? — Stir  thyself,  Starbuck  ! — stave  it 
off — move,  move  !  speak  aloud  ! — Mast-head  there  !  See  ye 
my  boy's  hand  on  the  hill  ? — Crazed  ; — aloft  there  ! — keep  thy 
keenest  eye  upon  the  boats  : — mark  well  the  whale ! — Ho  ! 
again  ! — drive  off  that  hawk !  see  !  he  pecks — he  tears  the 
vane" — pointing  to  the  red  flag  flying  at  the  main-truck — 
"  Ha  !  he  soars  away  with  it ! — Where's  the  old  man  now  ? 
sees't  thou  that  sight,  oh  Ahab  ! — shudder,  shudder  !" 


THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY.  627 

The  boats  had  not  gone  very  far,  when  by  a  signal  from  the 
mast-heads — a  downward  pointed  arm,  Ahab  knew  that  the  whale 
had  sounded ;  but  intending  to  be  near  him  at  the  next  rising,  he 
held  on  his  way  a  little  sideways  from  the  vessel ;  the  becharmed 
crew  maintaining  the  profoundest  silence,  as  the  head-beat  waves 
hammered  and  hammered  against  the  opposing  bow. 

"  Drive,  drive  in  your  nails,  oh  ye  waves  !  to  their  uttermost 
heads  drive  them  in  !  ye  but  strike  a  thing  without  a  lid  ;  and 
no  coffin  and  no  hearse  can  be  mine  : — and  hemp  only  can  kill 
me  !  Ha  !  ha  !" 

Suddenly  the  waters  around  them  slowly  swelled  in  broad 
circles  ;  then  quickly  upheaved,  as  if  sideways  sliding  from  a 
submerged  berg  of  ice,  swiftly  rising  to  the  surface.  A  low 
rumbling  sound  was  heard  ;  a  subterraneous  hum ;  and  then  all 
held  their  breaths  ;  as  bedraggled  with  trailing  ropes,  and  har- 
poons, and  lances,  a  vast  form  shot  lengthwise,  but  obliquely 
from  the  sea.  Shrouded  in  a  thin  drooping  veil  of  mist,  it 
hovered  for  a  moment  in  the  rainbowed  air ;  and  then  fell  swamp- 
ing back  into  the  deep.  Crushed  thirty  feet  upwards,  the 
waters  flashed  for  an  instant  like  heaps  of  fountains,  then  brokenly 
sank  in  a  shower  of  flakes,  leaving  the  circling  surface  ci*eamed 
like  new  milk  round  the  marble  trunk  of  the  whale. 

"  Give  way  !"  cried  Ahab  to  the  oarsmen,  and  the  boats  darted 
forward  to  the  attack  ;  but  maddened  by  yesterday's  fresh  irons 
that  corroded  in  him,  Moby  Dick  seemed  combinedly  possessed 
by  all  the  angels  that  fell  from  heaven.  The  wide  tiers  of 
welded  tendons  overspreading  his  broad  white  forehead,  beneath 
the  transparent  skin,  looked  knitted  together ;  as  head  on,  he 
came  churning  his  tail  among  the  boats  ;  and  once  more  flailed 
them  apart ;  spilling  out  the  irons  and  lances  from  the  two 
mates'  boats,  and  dashing  in  one  side  of  the  upper  part  of  their 
bows,  but  leaving  Ahab's  almost  without  a  scar. 

While  Daggoo  and  Queequeg  were  stopping  the  strained 
planks ;  and  as  the  whale  swimming  out  from  them,  turned, 


628  THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY. 

and  showed  one  entire  flank  as  he  shot  by  them  again  ;  at  that 
moment  a  quick  cry  went  up.  Lashed  round  and  round  to  the 
fish's  back  ;  pinioned  in  the  turns  upon  turns  in  which,  during 
the  past  night,  the  whale  had  reeled  the  involutions  of  the  lines 
around  him,  the  half  torn  body  of  the  Parsee  was  seen  ;  his 
sable  raiment  frayed  to  shreds  ;  his  distended  eyes  turned  full 
upon  old  Ahab. 

The  harpoon  dropped  from  his  hand. 

"  Befooled,  befooled  I" — drawing  in  a  long  lean  breath — "Aye, 
Parsee  !  I  see  thee  again. — Aye,  and  thou  goest  before ;  and 
this,  this  then  is  the  hearse  that  thou  didst  promise.  But  I  hold 
thee  to  the  last  letter  of  thy  word.  Where  is  the  second  hearse  ? 
Away,  mates,  to  the  ship !  those  boats  are  useless  now  ;  repair 
them  if  ye  can  in  time,  and  return  to  me ;  if  not,  Ahab  is 
enough  to  die — Down,  men  !  the  first  thing  that  but  offers  to 
jump  from  this  boat  I  stand  in,  that  thing  I  harpoon.  Ye  are 
not  other  men,  but  my  arms  and  my  legs  ;  and  so  obey  me. — 
"Where's  the  whale  ?  gone  down  again  ?" 

But  he  looked  too  nigh  the  boat ;  for  as  if  bent  upon  escaping 
with  the  corpse  he  bore,  and  as  if  the  particular  place  of  the 
last  encounter  had  been  but  a  stage  in  his  leeward  voyage,  Moby 
Dick  was  now  again  steadily  swimming  forward ;  and  had 
almost  passed  the  ship, — which  thus  far  had  been  sailing  in  the 
contrary  direction  to  him,  though  for  the  present  her  headway 
had  been  stopped.  He  seemed  swimming  with  his  utmost 
velocity,  and  now  only  intent  upon  pursuing  his  own  straight 
path  in  the  sea. 

"  Oh  !  Ahab,"  cried  Starbuck,  "  not  too  late  is  it,  even  now, 
the  third  day,  to  desist.  See !  Moby  Dick  seeks  thee  not.  It 
is  thou,  thou,  that  madly  seekest  him  !" 

Setting  sail  to  the  rising  wind,  the  lonely  boat  was  swiftly 
impelled  to  leeward,  by  both  oars  and  canvas.  And  at  last 
when  Ahab  was  sliding  by  the  vessel,  so  near  as  plainly  to  dis- 
tinguish Starbuck's  face  as  he  leaned  over  the  rail,  he  hailed 


THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY.  629 

him  to  turn  the  vessel  about,  and  follow  him,  not  too  swiftly, 
at  a  judicious  interval.  Glancing  upwards,  he  saw  Tashtego, 
Queequeg,  and  Daggoo,  eagerly  mounting  to  the  three  mast- 
heads ;  while  the  oarsmen  were  rocking  in  the  two  staved  boats 
which  had  but  just  been  hoisted  to  the  side,  and  were  busily  at 
work  in  repairing  them.  One  after  the  other,  through  the  port- 
holes, as  he  sped,  he  also  caught  flying  glimpses  of  Stubb  and 
Flask,  busying  themselves  on  deck  among  bundles  of  new  irons 
and  lances.  As  he  saw  all  this  ;  as  he  heard  the  hammers  in 
the  broken  boats  ;  far  other  hammers  seemed  driving  a  nail  into 
his  heart.  But  he  rallied.  And  now  marking  that  the  vane  or 
flag  was  gone  from  the  main-mast-head,  he  shouted  to  Tash- 
tego, who  had  just  gained  that  perch,  to  descend  again  for 
another  flag,  and  a  hammer  and  nails,  and  so  nail  it  to  the  mast. 

Whether  fagged  by  the  three  days'  running  chase,  and  the 
resistance  to  his  swimming  in  the  knotted  hamper  he  bore  ;  or 
whether  it  was  some  latent  deceitfulness  and  malice  in  him : 
whichever  was  true,  the  White  Whale's  way  now  began  to  abate, 
as  it  seemed,  from  the  boat  so  rapidly  nearing  him  once  more ; 
though  indeed  the  whale's  last  start  had  not  been  so  long  a  one 
as  before.  And  still  as  Ahab  glided  over  the  waves  the  unpitying 
sharks .  accompanied  him ;  and  so  pertinaciously  stuck  to  the 
boat ;  and  so  continually  bit  at  the  plying  oars,  that  the  blades 
became  jagged  and  crunched,  and  left  small  splinters  in  the  sea, 
at  almost  every  dip. 

"  Heed  them  not !  those  teeth  but  give  new  rowlocks  to  your 
oars.  Pull  on  !  'tis  the  better  rest,  the  shark's  jaw  than  the 
yielding  water." 

"  But  at  every  bite,  sir,  the  thin  blades  grow  smaller  and 
smaller !" 

"  They  will  last  long  enough  !  pull  on  ! — But  who  can  tell" — 
he  muttered — "  whether  these  sharks  swim  to  feast  on  the  whale 
or  on  Ahab  ? — But  pull  on  !  Aye,  all  alive,  now — we  near  him. 
The  helm  !  take  the  helm  ;  let  me  pass," — and  so  saying,  two 


630  THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY. 

of  the  oarsmen  helped  him  forward  to  the  bows  of  the  still  flying 
boat. 

At  length  as  the  craft  was  cast  to  one  side,  and  ran  ranging 
along  with  the  White  Whale's  flank,  he  seemed  strangely 
oblivious  of  its  advance — as  the  whale  sometimes  will — and 
Ahab  was  fairly  within  the  smoky  mountain  mist,  which, 
thrown  off  from  the  whale's  spout,  curled  round  his  great, 
Monadnock  hump ;  he  was  even  thus  close  to  him  ;  when,  with 
body  arched  back,  and  both  arms  lengthwise  high-lifted  to  the 
poise,  he  darted  his  fierce  iron,  and  his  far  fiercer  curse  into  the 
hated  whale.  As  both  steel  and  curse  sank  to  the  socket,  as  if 
sucked  into  a  morass,  Moby  Dick  sideways  writhed ;  spasmodi- 
cally rolled  his  nigh  flank  against  the  bow,  and,  without  staving 
a  hole  in  it,  so  suddenly  canted  the  boat  over,  that  had  it  not 
been  for  the  elevated  part  of  the  gunwale  to  which  he  then 
clung,  Ahab  would  once  more  have  been  tossed  into  the  sea. 
As  it  was,  three  of  the  oarsmen — who  foreknew  not  the  precise 
instant  of  the  dart,  and  were  therefore  unprepared  for  its  effects — 
these  were  flung  out ;  but  so  fell,  that,  in  an  instant  two  of  them 
clutched  the  gunwale  again,  and  rising  to  its  level  on  a  combing 
wave,  hurled  themselves  bodily  inboard  again ;  the  third  man 
helplessly  dropping  astern,  but  still  afloat  and  swimming. 

Almost  simultaneously,  with  a  mighty  volition  of  ungradu- 
ated,  instantaneous  swiftness,  the  White  Whale  darted  through 
the  weltering  sea.  But  when  Ahab  cried  out  to  the  steersman 
to  take  new  turns  with  the  line,  and  hold  it  so ;  and  commanded 
the  crew  to  turn  round  on  their  seats,  and  tow  the  boat  up  to 
the  mark;  the  moment  the  treacherous  line  felt  that  double 
strain  and  tug,  it  snapped  in  the  empty  air ! 

"  What  breaks  in  me  ?  Some  sinew  cracks  ! — 'tis  whole 
again  ;  oars  !  oars  !     Burst  in  upon  him  !" 

Hearing  the  tremendous  rush  of  the  sea-crashing  boat,  the 
whale  wheeled  round  to  present  his  blank  forehead  at  bay  ;  but 
in  that  evolution,  catching  sight  of  the  nearing  black  hull  of  the 


THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY.  631 

ship  ;  seemingly  seeing  in  it  the  source  of  all  his  persecutions  ; 
bethinking  it — it  may  be — a  larger  and  nobler  foe ;  of  a  sud- 
den, he  bore  down  upon  its  advancing  prow,  smiting  his  jaws 
amid  fiery  showers  of  foam. 

Ahab  staggered ;  his  hand  smote  his  forehead.  "  I  grow 
blind  ;  hands  !  stretch  out  before  me  that  I  may  yet  grope  my 
way.     Is't  night  ?" 

"  The  whale  !     The  ship  !"  cried  the  cringing  oarsmen. 

"  Oars  !  oars !  Slope  downwards  to  thy  depths,  O  sea,  that 
ere  it  be  for  ever  too  late,  Ahab  may  slide  this  last,  last  time 
upon  his  mark  !  I  see  :  the  ship  !  the  ship  !  Dash  on,  my  men ! 
Will  ye  not  save  my  ship  ?" 

But  as  the  oarsmen  violently  forced  their  boat  through  the 
sledge-hammering  seas,  the  before  whale-smitten  bow-ends  of 
two  planks  burst  through,  and  in  an  instant  almost,  the  tempo- 
rarily disabled  boat  lay  nearly  level  with  the  waves ;  its  half- 
wading,  splashing  crew,  trying  hard  to  stop  the  gap  and  bale  out 
the  pouring  water. 

Meantime,  for  that  one  beholding  instant,  Tashtego's  mast- 
head hammer  remained  suspended  in  his  hand ;  and  the  red 
flag,  half-wrapping  him  as  with  a  plaid,  then  streamed  itself 
straight  out  from  him,  as  his  own  forward-flowing  heart ;  while 
Starbuck  and  Stubb,  standing  upon  the  bowsprit  beneath,  caught 
sight  of  the  down-coming  monster  just  as  soon  as  he. 

"  The  whale,  the  whale  !  Up  helm,  up  helm  !  Oh,  all  ye 
sweet  powers  of  air,  now  hug  me  close  !  Let  not  Starbuck  die, 
if  die  he  must,  in  a  woman's  fainting  fit  Up  helm,  I  say — ye 
fools,  the  jaw !  the  jaw !  Is  this  the  end  of  all  my  bursting 
prayers  ?  all  my  life-long  fidelities  ?  Oh,  Ahab,  Ahab,  lo,  thy 
work.  Steady !  helmsman,  steady.  Nay,  nay !  Up  helm 
again  !  He  turns  to  meet  us !  Oh,  his  unappeasable  brow 
drives  on  towards  one,  whose  duty  tells  him  he  cannot  depart. 
My  God,  stand  by  me  now  !" 

"  Stand  not  by  me,  but  stand  under  me,  whoever  you  are 


632  THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY. 

that  will  now  help  Stubb ;  for  Stubb,  too,  sticks  here.  I  grin  at 
thee,  thou  grinning  whale !  Who  ever  helped  Stubb,  or  kept  Stubb 
awake,  but  Stubb's  own  unwinking  eye  ?  And  now  poor  Stubb 
goes  to  bed  upon  a  mattrass  that  is  all  too  soft ;  would  it  were 
stuffed  with  brushwood  !  I  grin  at  thee,  thou  grinning  whale  ! 
Look  ye,  sun,  moon,  and  stars !  I  call  ye  assassins  of  as  good 
a  fellow  as  ever  spouted  up  his  ghost.  For  all  that,  I  would 
yet  ring  glasses  with  ye,  would  ye  but  hand  the  cup  !  Oh,  oh  ! 
oh,  oh !  thou  grinning  whale,  but  there  '11  be  plenty  of  gulping 
soon  !  Why  fly  ye  not,  O  Ahab !  For  me,  off  shoes  and 
jacket  to  it ;  let  Stubb  die  in  his  drawers  !  A  most  mouldy  and 
over  salted  death,  though  ; — cherries  !  cherries  !  cherries  !  Oh, 
Flask,  for  one  red  cherry  ere  we  die  !" 

"  Cherries  ?  I  only  wish  that  we  were  where  they  grow.  Oh, 
Stubb,  I  hope  my  poor  mother's  drawn  my  part-pay  ere  this ; 
if  not,  few  coppers  will  now  come  to  her,  for  the  voyage  is  up." 

From  the  ship's  bows,  nearly  all  the  seamen  now  hung 
inactive  ;  hammers,  bits  of  plank,  lances,  and  harpoons,  mecha- 
nically retained  in  their  hands,  just  as  they  had  darted  from  their 
various  employments ;  all  their  enchanted  eyes  intent  upon  the 
whale,  which  from  side  to  side  strangely  vibrating  his  predesti- 
nating head,  sent  a  broad  band  of  overspreading  semicircular  fuam 
before  him  as  he  rushed.  Retribution,  swift  vengeance,  eternal 
malice  were  in  his  whole  aspect,  and  spite  of  all  that  mortal  man 
could  do,  the  solid  white  buttress  of  his  forehead  smote  the 
ship's  starboard  bow,  till  men  and  timbers  reeled.  Some  fell 
flat  upon  their  faces.  Like  dislodged  trucks,  the  heads  of  the 
harpooneers  aloft  shook  on  their  bull-like  necks.  Through  the 
breach,  they  heard  the  waters  pour,  as  mountain  torrents  down  a 
flume. 

"  The  ship  !  The  hearse  ! — the  second  hearse  !"  cried  Ahab 
from  the  boat ;    "  its  wood   could   only  be  American  !" 

Diving  beneath  the  settling  ship,  the  whale  ran  quivering 
along  its  keel ;  but  turning  under  water,  swiftly  shot  to  the  sur- 


THE    CHASE  — THIRD    DAY.  633 

face  again,  far  off  the  other  bow,  but  within  a  few  yards  of 
Ahab's  boat,  where,  for  a  time,  he  lay  quiescent. 

"  I  turn  rny  body  from  the  sun.  What  ho,  Tashtego !  let 
me  hear  thy  hammer.  Oh !  ye  three  unsurrendered  spires  of 
mine ;  thou  uncracked  keel ;  and  only  god-bullied  hull ;  thou 
firm  deck,  and  haughty  helm,  and  Pole-pointed  prow, — death- 
glorious  ship  !  must  ye  then  perish,  and  without  me  ?  Am  I 
cut  off  from  the  last  fond  pride  of  meanest  shipwrecked  cap- 
tains ?  Oh,  lonely  death  on  lonely  life !  Oh,  now  I  feel  my 
topmost  greatness  lies  in  my  topmost  grief.  Ho,  ho  !  from  all 
your  furthest  bounds,  pour  ye  now  in,  ye  bold  billows  of  my 
whole  foregone  life,  and  top  this  one  piled  comber  of  my  death ! 
Towards  thee  I  roll,  thou  all-destroying  but  unconquering  whale ; 
to  the  last  I  grapple  with  thee ;  from  hell's  heart  I  stab  at 
thee ;  for  hate's  sake  I  spit  my  last  breath  at  thee.  Sink  all 
coffins  and  all  hearses  to  one  common  pool !  and  since  neither 
can  be  mine,  let  me  then  tow  to  pieces,  while  still  chasing  thee, 
though  tied  to  thee,  thou  damned  whale !  Thus,  I  give  up  the 
spear !" 

The  harpoon  was  darted  ;  the  stricken  whale  flew  forward  ; 
with  igniting  velocity  the  line  ran  through  the  groove ; — ran 
foul.  Ahab  stooped  to  clear  it ;  he  did  clear  it ;  but  the  flying 
turn  caught  him  round  the  neck,  and  voicelessly  as  Turkish 
mutes  bowstring  their  victim,  he  was  shot  out  of  the  boat,  ere 
the  crew  knew  he  was  gone.  Next  instant,  the  heavy  eye- 
splice  in  the  rope's  final  end  flew  out  of  the  stark-empty  tub, 
knocked  down  an  oarsman,  and  smiting  the  sea,  disappeared  in 
its  depths. 

For  an  instant,  the  tranced  boat's  crew  stood  still;  then 
turned.  "  The  ship  ?  Great  God,  where  is  the  ship  ?"  Soon 
they  through  dim,  bewildering  mediums  saw  her  sidelong  fad- 
ing phantom,  as  in  the  gaseous  Fata  Morgana  ;  only  the  upper- 
most masts  out  of  water ;  while  fixed  by  infatuation,  or  fidelity, 
or  fate,  to  their  once  lofty  perches,  the  pagan  harpooneers  still 

21* 


634  THE    CHASE  —  THIRD    DAY. 


maintained  their  sinking  lookouts  on  the  sea.  And  now,  con- 
centric circles  seized  the  lone  boat  itself,  and  all  its  crew,  and 
each  floating  oar,  and  every  lance-pole,  and  spinning,  animate 
and  inanimate,  all  round  and  round  in  one  vortex,  carried  the 
smallest  chip  of  the  Pequod  out  of  sight. 

But  as  the  last  whelmings  intermixingly  poured  themselves 
over  the  sunken  head  of  the  Indian  at  the  mainmast,  leaving  a 
few  inches  of  the  erect  spar  yet  visible,  together  with  long 
streaming  yards  of  the  flag,  which  calmly  undulated,  with 
ironical  coinci dings,  over  the  destroying  billows  they  almost 
touched  ; — at  that  instant,  a  red  arm  and  a  hammer  hovered 
backwardly  uplifted  in  the  open  air,  in  the  act  of  nailing  the 
flag  faster  and  yet  faster  to  the  subsiding  spar.  A  sky-hawk 
that  tauntingly  had  followed  the  main-truck  downwards  from 
its  natural  home  among  the  stars,  pecking  at  the  flag,  and 
incommoding  Tashtego  there  ;  this  bird  now  chanced  to  inter- 
cept its  broad  fluttering  wing  between  the  hammer  and  the 
wood ;  and  simultaneously  feeling  that  etherial  thrill,  the  sub- 
merged savage  beneath,  in  his  death-gasp,  kept  his  hammer 
frozen  there ;  and  so  the  bird  of  heaven,  with  archangelic  shrieks, 
and  his  imperial  beak  thrust  upwards,  and  his  whole  captive 
form  folded  in  the  flag  of  Ahab,  went  down  with  his  ship, 
which,  like  Satan,  would  not  sink  to  hell  till  she  had  dragged 
a  living  part  of  heaven  along  with  her,  and  helmeted  herself 
with  it. 

Now  small  fowls  flew  screaming  over  the  yet  yawning  gulf; 
a  sullen  white  surf  beat  against  its  steep  sides  ;  then  all  collapsed, 
and  the  great  shroud  of  the  sea  rolled  on  as  it  rolled  five  thou- 
sand years  ago. 


EPILOGUE. 

"AND    I    ONLY    AM    ESCAPED    ALONE     TO    TELL    THEE." 

Job. 

The  drama 's  done.  Why  then  here  does  any  one  step  forth  ? 
— Because  one  did  survive  the  wreck. 

It  so  chanced,  that  after  the  Par  see's  disappearance,  I  was 
he  whom  the  Fates  ordained  to  take  the  place  of  AhaUs  bows- 
man,  when  that  bowsman  assumed  the  vacant  post ;  the  same, 
who,  when  on  the  last  day  the  three  men  were  tossed  from  out 
the  rocking  boat,  was  dropped  astern.  So,  floating  on  the 
margin  of  the  ensuing  scene,  and  in  full  sight  of  it,  when  the 
half-spent  suction  of  the  sunk  ship  reached  me,  I  was  then,  but 
slowly,  drawn  towards  the  closing  vortex.  When  I  reached  it, 
it  had  subsided  to  a  creamy  pool.  Round  and  round,  then, 
and  ever  contracting  towards  the  button-like  black  bubble  at  the 
axis  of  that  slowly  wheeling  circle,  like  another  Ixion  I  did 
revolve.  Till,  gaining  that  vital  centre,  the  black  bubble 
upward  burst ;  and  now,  liberated  by  reason  of  its  cunning 
spring,  and,  owing  to  its  great  buoyancy,  rising  with  great  force, 
the  coffin  life-buoy  shot  lengthwise  from  the  sea,  fell  over,  and 
floated  by  my  side.  Buoyed  up  by  that  coffin,  for  almost  one 
whole  day  and  night,  I  floated  on  a  soft  and  dirge-like  main. 
The  unharming  sharks,  they  glided  by  as  if  with  padlocks  on 
their  mouths  /  the  savage  sea-hawks  sailed  with  sheathed  beaks. 
On  the  second  day,  a  sail  drew  near,  nearer,  and  picked  me  up 
at  last.  It  was  the  devious-cruising  Rachel,  that  in  her 
retracing  search  after  her  missing  children,  only  found  another 
orphan. 

TINIS. 


One  Volume,  l2mo,  Paper,  $1  00  ;  Muslin,  $1  25. 

White-Jacket  will  find  (since  it  deserves  to  find)  many  animated  and  interested 
readers.  Mr.  Melville  stands  as  far  apart  from  any  past  or  present  marine  painter 
in  pen  and  ink  as  Turner  does  from  Vandervelde.  We  can  not  recall  another  nov- 
elist or  sketcher  who  has  given  the  poetry  of  the  ship,  her  voyages,  and  her  crew, 
in  a  manner  at  all  resembling  his. — London  Athenaum. 

The  characters  brought  upon  the  stage  are  admirable  life-pictures,  exhibiting  by 
the  magic  effect  of  a  few  masterly  touches  each  man  in  the  complete  individuality 
of  his  person  and  his  office,  from  the  commodore,  who,  as  he  paces  the  quarter-deck, 
covers  up  his  deficiency  in  the  qualities  necessary  for  command  by  the  unblending 
starchness  of  official  etiquette,  down  to  the  meanest  specimen  of  the  genus  loblolly- 
boy. — John  Bull. 

Had  not  Mr.  Melville  already  appeared  before  the  world  with  productions  which, 
by  their  powerful  energy  and  general  worth,  have  won  both  attention  and  admira- 
tion, this  work  would  be  sufficient  to  establish  him  as  a  substantial  favorite  for  the 
future.  Whatever  he  writes  upon,  he  writes  on  it  well,  and  throughout  his  pages, 
open  them  where  you  may,  will  be  found,  amid  a  host  of  beauties  and  singularities, 
the  strongest  evidence  of  an  untiring  spirit,  great  vigor,  lofty  imagination,  and  a  pure 
style  of  writing.  The  perusal  of  it  has  caused  us  so  much  real  and  sterling  pleasure, 
that  we  feel  it  a  duty  we  owe  both  to  its  author  and  the  public  to  recommend  it  to 
the  latter  in  the  strongest  manner. — London  Morning  Post. 

Many  of  the  wonders  of  the  world  of  a  man-of-war  are  now  revealed  to  us  for  the 
first  time.  The  whole  narrative  is  marked  by  all  the  sobriety  of  truth,  and,  though 
enlivened  by  the  sparkling  and  racy  style  which  characterizes  the  author  in  his  hap- 
piest moments,  is  full  of  those  details  which  bear  with  them  the  conviction  that  the 
scene  is  sketched  from  the  life. — London  Atlas. 

Varied  as  are  the  pictures  which  Herman  Melville  here  presents  to  us,  the  same 
natural  delineation  of  a  master-hand  is  visible  in  them  all,  and  few  who  have  fol- 
lowed its  momentous  career  will  arrive  without  regret  at  the  chapter  which  records 
"  the  end  of  the  Jacket." — London  Sun. 

We  have  called  Mr.  Melville  a  common  sailor,  but  he  is  a  very  uncommon  com- 
mon sailor,  even  for  America,  whose  mariners  are  better  educated  than  our  own. 
His  descriptions  of  scenery  are  life-like  and  vigorous,  sometimes  masterly,  and  his 
style  throughout  is  rather  that  of  an  educated  literary  man  than  of  a  working  sea- 
man.— London  Times. 

Brilliant  and  dashingly  spirited  descriptions  abound  in  this  volume.  It  is  writ- 
ten in  the  author's  best  style ;  and  no  modern  author  ranks  higher  as  a  marine 
painter.  The  mysteries  of  life  on  ship-board  are  revealed,  and  the  abuses  of  the 
service  freely  commented  on. — Baltimore  American. 

It  is  full  of  humor  and  keen  satire,  and  it  ought  to  have  a  good  effect  in  reforming 
some  of  the  abuses  in  our  navy. — Norfolk  Democrat. 

Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers,  New  York. 


IY  H1RMAN  MIIiVILLl. 


One  Volume,  12mo,  Muslin,  $1  25;  Paper,  $1  00. 

After  the  pungent  and  admirably  written  narrative  of  that  accomplished,  able  sea- 
man, Herman  Melville,  few  books  of  the  same  class  but  must  appear  flat  and  unprof- 
itable. Omoo  would  have  found  readers  at  any  time ;  and  that  although  twenty  pub- 
lishers had  combined  with  fifty  authors  to  deluge  the  public  with  the  Pacific  Ocean 
during  the  five  previous  years. — Blackwood's  notice  of  Coulter's  Cruise. 

Let  Mr.  Melville  write  as  much  as  he  will,  provided  always  he  writes  as  well  as 
now,  and  he  shall  find  us  greedy  devourers  of  his  productions.  He  has  a  rare  pen 
for  the  delineation  of  character ;  an  eye  for  the  humorous  and  grotesque  which  is 
worth  a  Jew's ;  for  the  description  of  natural  scenery  he  is  not  to  be  beaten,  either 
on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  or  the  other.  His  pencil  is  most  distinct,  the  coloring 
beautiful  and  rich.  As  for  invention,  he  will  bear  comparison  with  the  most  cun- 
ning of  the  modern  French  school.  *  *  *  At  the  last  page  of  his  second  work,  Mr. 
Melville  is  as  fresh  and  vigorous  as  at  the  first  line  of  the  book  which  preceded  it. 
Lkie  his  reader,  he  leaves  oft"  with  an  appetite. — London  Times. 

Unlike  most  sequels,  Omoo  is  equal  to  its  predecessor.  The  character  of  the  com- 
position is  clear,  fresh,  vivacious,  and  full  of  matter. — London  Spectator. 

The  adventures  are  depicted  with  force  and  humor. — London  Athenaum. 

Some  of  the  scenes  are  like  cabinet  pictures. — London  Critic. 

Written  in  a  style  worthy  of  Philip  Quarles  or  Robinson  Crusoe. — Lon.  Lit.  Gaz. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  a  man  better  fitted  to  describe  the  impressions  such 
a  life  and  such  scenes  are  calculated  to  call  forth,  than  the  auther  of  Omoo.  Every 
variety  of  character,  and  scene,  and  incident,  he  studies  and  describes  with  equal 
gusto. — London  People's  Journal. 

A  stirring  narrative  of  very  pleasant  reading.  It  possesses  much  of  the  charm  that 
has  made  Robinson  Crusoe  immortal — lite-like  description.  It  commands  attention, 
as  if  old  interest  were  created  by  the  narratives— 

"Of  Raleigh,  Frobisher,  and  Drake — 
Adventurous  Hearts,  who  bartered  bold 
Their  English  steel  for  Spanish  gold." 

The  history  is  one  of  comparatively  new  lands  and  new  people.  His  account  of  the 
natives  corresponds  with  that  of  Kotzebue  and  others. — Douglas  Jerrold's  Paper. 

Mr.  Melville  has  more  than  sustained  his  widely-spread  reputation  in  these  vol- 
umes. Omoo  and  Typee  are  actually  delightful  romances  of  real  life,  embellished 
with  powers  of  description,  and  a  graphic  skill  of  hitting  off  characters,  little  inferi- 
or to  the  highest  order  of  novel  and  romance  writers. — Albion. 

A  curious  and  fascinating  narrative. — Anglo  American. 

These  volumes  contain  a  vast  amount  of  exceedingly  entertaining  and  interesting 
matter. — Philadelphia  Courier. 

Omoo  is  characterized  by  all  the  animation,  picturesqueness,  and  felicity  of  style 
which  commended  the  author's  first  writings  to  a  second  reading,  even  after  curios- 
ity is  satisfied  by  tracing  out  the  singularity  of  the  story. — Literary  World. 


Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers,  New  York. 


2  Volumes,  12mo,  Muslin,  $1  75;  Paper,  $1  50. 

A  work  such  as  was  never  heard  of  before.  You  might  accumulate  upon  it  all 
the  epithets  which  Madame  de  Sevignfi  affectionated.  Fancy  Daphnis  and  Chloe 
dancing  I  know  not  what  strange  gavotte  with  Aristotle  and  Spinoza,  escorted  by 
Gargantua  and  Gargamelle.  Mardi  is  the  modern  political  world.  This  part  is  the 
most  piquant  of  the  book.  The  colossal  machine  invented  by  Mr.  Melville  might 
be  compared  to  the  American  Panorama  now  placarded  on  the  walls  of  London  iu 
these  terms  :  "  Gigantic  original  American  Panorama,  now  on  exhibition  in  the  great 
American  Hall;  the  prodigious  moving  Panorama  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  Falls  of 
St.  Anthony,  and  of  the  Mississippi,  covering  an  extent  of  canvass  four  miles  long,  and 
representing  more  than  4000  miles  of  scenery."  Translated  from  the  "Revue  de  Deux 
Mondes." 

From  the  first  chapter  of  the  book  to  the  last,  where  the  hero  is  swept  from  orur 
sight  in  a  cloud  of  spray,  the  book  is  a  magnificent  drama. — Bentley's  Miscellany 

Mardi  is  a  purely  original  invention,  an  extraordinary  book.  It  is  a  species  of  Uto- 
pia, or,  rather,  a  sea  voyage  in  which  we  discover  human  nature.  There  is  a  world 
of  poetical,  thoughtful,  ingenious,  moral  writing  in  it,  exhibiting  the  most  various  re- 
flection and  reading.  Is  it  not  significant  that  we  should  soon  be  swept  beyond  the 
current  of  the  isles  into  this  world  of  high  discourse — revolving  the  conditions,  the 
duties,  and  destinies  of  men? — New  York  Literary  World. 

Mardi  has  posed  us.  It  has  struck  our  head  like  one  of  those  blows  which  set 
every  thing  dancing  and  glancing  before  your  eyes  like  splintered  sun's  rays.  The 
images  are  brilliant ;  the  adventures  superb. — London  Literary  Gazette. 

Full  of  pictures  from  the  under  world.— London  Athenmum. 

Mardi  is  full  of  all  Oriental  delights. — Home  Journal. 

The  reader  who  has  business  in  Mardi  will  find  it  rich  in  wisdom  and  brilliant  with 
beauty.  It  is  a  magnJrcent  allegory,  wherein  the  world  is  seen  as  in  a  mirror.  The 
germ  of  the  oak  is  not  more  surely  hid  in  the  acorn  than  Melville's  fame  in  this  book. 
— Chronotype. 

An  extraordinary  production.    Mardi  is  the  world. — Musical  Times. 

There  is  strange  interest,  at  times  replete  with  power  of  a  peculiar  and  uncommon 
kind. — Blackwood. 

A  sort  of  retina  picture,  or  inverted  view  of  the  world,  under  the  name  of  Mardi. 
Typee  and  Omoo  are  to  this  work  as  a  seven-by-nine  sketch  of  a  sylvan  lake  with  a 
lone  hunter,  or  a  boy  fishing,  compared  with  the  cartoons  of  Raphael. — Dem.  Rev. 

A  wonderful  book ;  at  once  enthusiastic  and  epigrammatic ;  it  burns  at  one  and 
the  same  time  with  an  intense  and  richly  colored  glow  of  poetic  ardor,  and  the  more 
glittering,  but  paler  fires  of  an  artful  rhetoric. — London  Morning  Chronicle. 

Charles  Lamb  might  have  imagined  such  a  party  as  Mr.  Melville  imagines  at  Pluto's 
table — London  Examiner. 

The  public  will  discover  in  him,  at  least,  a  capital  essayist,  in  addition  to  the  fasci. 
nating  novelist  and  painter  of  sea  life. — Literary  World. 

Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers,  New  York. 


One  Volume,  \2mo,  Muslin,  87£  cents  ;  Paper,  75  cents. 

"Why  I  never  chanced  upon  Mr.  Melville's  work  before,  is  one  of  the  inscrutable 
mysteries  of  my  fate.  While  luxuriating  in  its  perusal,  I  looked  back  upon  myself 
in  my  ante-Typee-cal  existence,  with  positive  commiseration.  There  are  those,  I 
am  aware,  who  doubt  the  authenticity  of  this  charming  narrative.  ■  Oh,  ye  of  little 
faith  !'  I  have  a  solemn  conviction  of  its  truth — a  pertinacious  belief  in  the  entire 
work — an  humble,  unquestioning  reliance  on  the  word  of  the  narrator." — Corre- 
spondence of  "  Grace  Greenwood"  to  the  Home  Journal. 

Chateaubriand's  Atala  is  of  no  softer  or  more  romantic  tone — Anacharsis  scarce 
presents  us  with  images  more  classically  exquisite. — New  York  Mirror. 

Typee  is  a  happy  hit,  whichever  way  you  look  at  it — whether  as  travels,  romance, 
poetry,  or  humor.  The  bonhommie  of  the  book  is  remarkable.  It  appears  as  genial 
and  natural  as  the  spontaneous  fruits  of  the  island. — Morning  News. 

The  air  of  freshness  and  romance  which  characterizes  Typee,  gives  it  the  appear- 
ance of  an  improved  edition  of  our-  old  favorites,  Peter  Wilkins  and  Gulliver. — Rich- 
mond Republican. 

A  charming  book — full  of  talent,  composed  with  singular  elegance,  and  as  musical 
as  Washington  Irving's  Columbus  —  Western  Continent. 

Enviable  Herman !  A  happier  dog  it  is  impossible  to  imagine  than  Herman  in 
the  Typee  valley. — London  Times. 

Some  of  these  pictures  but  require  us  to  call  the  savages  celestials,  to  have  sup- 
posed Mr.  Melville  to  have  dropped  from  the  clouds,  and  to  fancy  some  Ovidian 
grace  added  to  the  narrative  in  order  to  become  scenes  of  classic  mythology. — Lon- 
don Spectator. 

Such  is  life  in  the  valley  of  the  Typees ;  and  surely  Rasselas,  if  he  had  had  the  good 
luck  to  stumble  on  it,  would  not  have  gone  further  in  his  search  after  happiness.— 
Douglas  Jerrold's  Magazine. 

The  whole  narrative  is  most  simple,  most  affecting,  and  most  romantic.  Ah  I  thou 
gentle  and  too  enchanting  Fayaway,  what  has  become  of  thee  ? — Lon.  Gent's.  Mag. 

Since  the  joyous  moment  when  we  first  read  Robinson  Crusoe,  and  believed  it  all, 
and  wondered  all  the  more  because  we  believed,  we  have  not  met  with  so  bewitch- 
ing a  work  as  this  narrative  of  Herman  Melville's. — London  John  Bull. 

A  book  full  of  fresh  and  richly -colored  matter. — London  Alhenceum. 

Thi9  is  really  a  very  curious  book.  The  happy  valley  of  our  dear  Rasselas  was 
not  a  more  romantic  or  enchanting  scene. — London  Examiner. 

This  is  a  most  entertaining  and  refreshing  book.  The  writer,  though  filling  the 
post  of  a  common  sailor,  is  certainly  no  common  man. — London  Critic. 

The  style  is  racy  and  pointed,  and  there  is  a  romantic  interest  thrown  around  the 
adventure,  which  to  most  readers  will  be  highly  charming. — American  Review. 

It  bears  the  unexhausted  characteristics  of  talent. — National  Intelligencer. 

The  story  is  eventful — wonderful ;  some  of  the  deeds  performed  by  the  author 
and  his  companion  almost  surpass  belief. — Cincinnati  Herald. 


~^v\A^^"^  ^^^~— 


Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers,  New  York. 


One  Volume,  \2rno,  Muslin,  SI  00 ;  Paper,  75  cents. 

Ships  and  the  sea,  and  those  who  plow  it,  with  their  belongings  on  shore — these 
subjects  are  identified  with  Herman  Melville's  name,  for  he  has  most  unquestiona- 
bly made  them  his  own.  No  writer,  not  even  Marryat  himself,  has  observed  them 
more  closely  or  pictured  them  more  impressively. — Albion. 

A  delightful  book.  A  quiet  vein  of  humor  runs  through  it  that  will  better  repay 
the  exploring  than  many  of  the  veins  will  gold-digging. — Courier. 

It  is  unquestionably  a  work  of  genius,  and  quite  as  interesting  aa  it  is  unique ;  and 
we  know  not  where  a  better  idea  of  sailor  life  can  be  found  than  in  its  pages. — 
Natiorial  Intelligencer. 

As  perfect  a  specimen  of  the  naval  yarn  as  we  ever  read,  and  displays  much  va- 
rious talent  and  power.  The  characters  are  exceedingly  well  drawn. — London  Lit- 
erary Gazette. 

This  book  is  intensely  interesting.  The  great  charm  of  the  work  ia  its  realness. 
It  seems  to  be  fact,  word  for  word.  The  tale  is  told  simply  and  without  the  least  pre- 
tension ;  and  yet,  within  its  bounds,  are  flashes  of  genuine  humor,  strokes  of  pure 
pathos  and  real  and  original  characters. — Boston  Post. 

The  life-like  manner  in  which  every  event  is  brought  to  the  reader  is  astonishing. 
— Home  Journal. 

This  book  is  in  the  old  vein.  It  is  written  for  the  million,  and  the  million  will 
doubtless  be  delighted  with  its  racy  descriptions  of  the  life  of  a  young  sailor. — Noah's 
Times  and  Messenger. 

Redburn  is  a  clever  book.  *  *  *  All  who  have  read  "  Omoo"  will  remember  that 
the  author  is  an  adept  in  the  sketching  of  beautiful  originals. — Blackwood's  Magazine. 

The  freshness  and  rich  coloring  of  his  writings,  with  his  easy  and  pointed  style, 
his  humor  and  descriptions  of  scenery  and  character,  have  earned  for  him  the  name 
of  the  Defoe  of  the  Sea. — Baltimore  American. 

Redburn  will  prove  a  most  readable  book. — Richmond  Whig. 

The  style  of  the  book  is  exceedingly  attractive.  In  our  view  it  has  higher  merits 
than  any  other  volume  from  the  same  pen. — Hartford  Republican. 

Redburn  is  no  ordinary  book.  If  an  imaginary  narrative,  it  is  the  most  life-like, 
natural  fiction  since  Robinson  Crusoe. — Southern  Literary  Messenger. 

In  the  filling  up  there  is  a  simplicity,  an  ease,  which  may  win  the  attention  of  a 
child,  and  there  is  a  reflection  which  may  stir  the  profoundest  depths  of  manhood. 
— Literary  World. 

Herman  Melville  is  one  of  the  few  who  has  made  a  distinct  mark  on  the  litera 
ture  of  his  time. — Philadelphia  North  American. 

The  author  of  this  volume  needs  no  commendation.  He  has  already  found  his 
audience,  and  it  is  not  wanting  in  numbers,  in  taste,  in  discrimination.  No  writer 
plans  better  than  he ;  no  one  uses  better  materials,  or  gives  them  better  workman- 
ship ;  no  one  puts  on  a  more  exquisite  finish. — Worcester  Palladium. 

Harper  &  Brothers,  Publishers,  New  York. 


CHOICE  WORKS  FOR  LIBRARIES, 


JUST    PUBLISHED 


BY  HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK. 


Harper's  New  Monthly  Magazine. 

The  Magazine  will  contain  all  the  continuous  Tales  of  Dickens, 
Bulwer,  Croly,  Lever,  Warren,  and  other  distinguished  contrib- 
utors to  British  periodicals :  Critical  Notices  of  the  Publica- 
tions of  the  day  :  Speeches  and  Addresses  of  distinguished  Men 
upon  Topics  of  universal  Interest :  articles  from  Punch  and  other 
well  known  humorous  publications,  and  some  of  the  master-pieces 
of  classical  English  literature,  illustrated  in  a  style  of  unequaled 
elegance  and  beauty  ;  notices  of  Events,  in  Science,  Literature, 
and  Art,  in  which  the  people  at  large  have  an  interest,  &c.,  &c. 
Special  regard  will  be  had  to  such  Articles  as  relate  to  the  Econ- 
omy of  Social  Life,  or  tend  to  promote  in  any  way  the  well-being 
of  those  who  are  engaged  in  any  department  of  Productive  Act- 
ivity. A  carefully  prepared  Fashion  Plate  and  other  Pictorial  Il- 
lustrations will  aceempany  each  Number.  Every  Number  of  the 
Magazine  will  contain  144  octavo  pages,  in  double  columns.  The 
volumes  of  a  single  Year,  therefore,  will  present  nearly  2000 
Pages  of  the  choicest  of  the  Miscellaneous  Literature  of  the  Age. 
Terms. — $3  00  a  year,  or  25  cents  a  Number.  Bound  volumes, 
comprising  the  Numbers  for  Six  Months,  Muslin,  $2  00. 

Strickland's   (Miss)  Lives  of  the  Queens  of 

Scotland,  and  English  Princesses  connected  with  the  Regal  Suc- 
cession of  Great  Britain.     6  vols.  12mo,  Muslin,  $1  00  per  Vol. 

Mayhew's  Treatise  on  Popular  Education : 

For  the  Use  of  Parents  and  Teachers,  and  for  Young  Persons  of 
both  Sexes.  Prepared  and  Published  in  accordance  with  a  Res- 
olution of  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  State 
of  Michigan.     J2mo,  Muslin,  $1  00. 

Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States, 

From  the  first  Settlement  of  the  Country  to  the  Organization  of 
Government  under  the  Federal  Constitution.  3  vols.  8vo.  Mus- 
lin, f  6  00  ;  Sheep,  $6  75  ;  half  Calf,  f  7  50. 

Hildreth's  History  of  the  United  States,  contin- 
ued :  from  the  Adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution  to  the  End 
of  the  Sixteenth  Congress.  3  vols.  8vo,  Muslin,  $6  00  j  Sheep, 
$6  75  ;  half  Calf,  $7  50. 


# 


